Fever Pitch is a 1997 film starring Colin Firth and Ruth Gemmell, based loosely on Nick Hornby's best-selling memoir, Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life (1992).Hornby adapted the book for the screen and fictionalised the story, concentrating on Arsenal's First Division championship-winning season in 1988–89 and its effect on the protagonist's romantic relationship. Firth plays Paul Ashworth, the character based on Hornby, a teacher at a school in Muswell Hill, north London, and his romance with Sarah Hughes (Ruth Gemmell), a new teacher who joins Ashworth's school. The film culminates with the real life events of Arsenal's match against title rivals Liverpool in the final game of the season on 26 May 1989, with a last-minute goal by Michael Thomas giving Arsenal the 2–0 win they needed to secure the title.