After England's football (soccer) manager has a heart attack, Mike Bassett is hired as the new manager and promptly announces the team will win the World Cup.

A seemingly respectable estate agent leads a double life as the head of a vicious, well-organised gang of football hooligans.

The tale of two women: Sandra, an ambitious but naive Birmingham working girl who moves to London with the hope of securing wealthier patrons, and Louise, her social worker friend, who is fighting to change the antiquated and hypocritical prostitution laws. As both strive to achieve their goals, a cold dose of reality dashes their hopes, and the built-in biases against women in society are unmasked.