North West England is considered the cradle of football. It has emerged as the country's most successful region, a place where the game has formed an essential part of common character. From Tommy Banks, the infamous Bolton player who lost his job after campaigning for the maximum wage to be lifted, to Jürgen Klopp, the charismatic German who represents Liverpool in the age of the super-manager, On the Brink features exclusive interviews that examine how globalization is shifting landscape: how geography explains the way things are; how industry defines identity; how money threatens existence; what the game really does to people. Book jacket.