The game in which Neil Baldwin played for Stoke City was Gordon Cowan's of Aston Villa's testimonial at Villa Park. Baldwin missed an open goal as the opposition attempted to let him score when a late substitute.
Actor Toby Jones who portrays Neil Baldwin is himself a lifelong Stoke City supporter
In the movie, there are scenes where Neil and Lou Macari talked about the time Neil saved a girl from suicide. In real life, Lou Macari's youngest son Johnathan committed suicide in 1999.
Stoke City's Victoria Ground has long been demolished so Crewe Alexandra's Gresty Rd and Wrexham's Racecourse ground were used to portray Stoke's former home.
The player involved in the boxer shorts incident was Martin Carruthers who Stoke had signed from Aston Villa and sold to Peterborough Utd and later played for Macclesfield Town. The incident happened during an away game at Tranmere Rovers. The real players names weren't used in the film.