It is the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Rabbi Howell of Sheffield United, the first Romany to play for England, knows his career is peaking and the only way is down. His fate seems to be a return to obscurity, literally and metaphorically, back down the pit, his life ruled by the winding wheel and the domestic pattern set by his wife, Selina, her parents and family. He then meets Ada and risks throwing away career, home, everything. Follow Rab, Selina, Ada and the United through this turbulent, historic year.