Journalism major Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is expelled from Harvard University after cocaine is discovered in his room. Though it belongs to his roommate, Matt is afraid to speak up because his roommate Jeremy comes from a wealthy and powerful family, and is offered $10,000 for taking the blame. Matt accepts the money and uses it to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani), her husband Steve (Marc Warren) and their young son Ben in London. There, Matt meets Steve's brother, Pete (Charlie Hunnam) who leads the local football hooligan firm – Green Street Elite (GSE). Steve asks Pete to take Matt to a football match. Though Pete is reluctant to take a "Yankee" to a association football match, he decides to take Matt to the game, thinking he might "learn something."