Danny "Mean Machine" Meehan (VINNIE JONES) is a former soccer star who fell from grace for throwing a game and has now just been sentenced to several years for drunk driving and assaulting two police officers. Incarcerated in a prison that's run by head guard Burton (RALPH BROWN) and his two sadistic guards Ratchett (GEOFF BELL) and Hayter (NICK MOSS) - who all work for the warden known as The Governor (DAVID HEMMINGS) - Danny tries to lay low and do his time.
Yet, his fame and notoriety precede him, especially with his cellmate, Trojan (ROBBIE GEE), who wants nothing to do with him. Fortunately, the prison's veteran con, Doc (DAVID KELLY), shows Danny the ropes and the major power players. There's Sykes (JOHN FORGEHAM), a middle-aged prisoner who unofficially runs the place and has various business relationships with the Governor; Nitro (STEPHEN WALTERS), a deranged and edgy con desperate to get out; and Massive (VAS BLACKWOOD), the prison's supply man.
It's not long before Danny learns that the Governor wants him to coach the guards' soccer team, something Burton is adamantly against. Danny turns him down to save his own hide, but after spending some time in solitary, he takes Massive's advice and proposes that he coach the prisoners in a game versus the guards.
The Governor reluctantly agrees and from that point on, and as various inmates try out for the team, such as meek Billy the Limpet (DANNY DYER), or are specifically recruited for their "skills," such as the Monk (JASON STATHAM), a prisoner not even the guards want to tangle with, Danny tries to assemble a worthy team to take on the guards and get some on-field payback.