Jimmy is a shy teenager living in Oldham, Greater Manchester and being raised by his single mother Donna. Like most Mancunians, Jimmy loves football and is a big fan of Manchester City. He finds school troubling and is often being bullied by popular kids and staunch Manchester United fans “Gorgeous” Gordon Burley and Psycho. Jimmy joins the school football team coached by Eric Wirral who cares very little about the success of the team and is undermined by Gordon and his father Ken, who constantly boasts he is a former professional player with Crewe Alexandra.
Jimmy is occasionally accompanied by school friend and love interest Sara and befriends Alice, an old homeless woman living in derelict housing that is marked for demolition. Alice gives Jimmy a pair of old football boots that she claims once belonged to Robbie Brewer, who she alleges used to play for City. Alice explains that the boots are magic but although Jimmy accepts the gift he is sceptical and places them in a rubbish skip on his way home.
The bullying and torment continues when Gordon steals Jimmy’s boots and launches them into a passing bin truck in an attempt to prevent him playing for the team, however Jimmy manages to retrieve the old boots from the skip in time for his first game in the Manchester School’s Cup away against Wreckingham.
Desperate to uncover whether Robbie Brewer actually played for City, a club security steward points him in the direction of a house next to Maine Road which turns out to be Mr Wirral’s home. Jimmy finds out that his teacher was a former City player himself and had once scored a hattrick against United but is struggling to find his passion for the sport following his retirement as a player, and had kept his playing career exploits quiet at school.
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Jimmy’s performances begin to win round the likes of Psycho and other members of the team, however the Headmaster, concerned of the upcoming opponents tells Mr Wirral to let Ken take charge of the team. Ken berates the team in the first half with his only tactic being to “pass it to Gordon”. At half time Mr Wirral is revealed to be a former City player in front of the team by the opposition coach who recognises him as the player who scored a hattrick past him when he was a United goalkeeper, leading to the team to reject Ken as their coach.
Away from school, Jimmy is struggling to come to terms with his mother’s decision to date her new boyfriend Johnny Two Dogs, an arrogant motorcycle rider who tries to pass himself off as a martial arts expert. Jimmy occasionally bumps into Harry, his Mum’s former partner who he had a good relationship, but struggles to come to terms with how their relationship ended. Donna forces Johnny to make an effort with Jimmy and insists he takes him to a City game (as Harry did regularly), however Johnny who is not a football fan, gets into an altercation with a hooligan in the pub before the game.
On his way to invite Alice to the final, Jimmy notices demolition has begun on the row of houses where she is squatting. He manages to halt the workmen but after searching for Alice he finds she has frozen to death outside. With their relationship starting to fray Donna decides to not travel to the game with Johnny.
Harry takes Jimmy to meet a blind programme seller at half time who is revealed to be Robbie Brewer. Robbie confirms that he never actually played for City but he was selected to be a club mascot and that the boots were given to him that day as a gift by Alice who is revealed to be his mother.
Now convinced it was his own skills all along, Jimmy emerges from the tunnel for the second half and quickly scores a goal. He then assists Gordon for the equaliser before retrieving the ball in his own half and taking the ball down field before stopping on the edge of the penalty box. Despite the option of scoring and taking glory for himself, he chooses to play the ball into the box by kicking it really hard into Gordon’s face which knocks him over but results in the winning goal.
In the end, Jimmy proves his worth and loyalty by declining an offer to sign with Manchester United and affirming his love for Manchester City. Inspired by his determination and perseverance, viewers can now watch There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble to follow Jimmy’s journey and witness the magic unfold on the screen.