In 1945, German paratrooper, Bert Trautmann, is captured while fighting in the forests near Kleve. Transferred to a British POW camp in Lancashire, he and his comrades are kept under strict conditions and made to work to repair the damage their country has caused to the surrounding area. Jack Friar, a local tradesman and manager of non-league side St Helens Town, spots Trautmann keeping goal against other POWs during a visit to the POW camp and bribes the commander into allowing Trautmann to be allowed out of the camp, to play as goalkeeper for his relegation-threatened side.
