Throughout the 20th century the North-East of England was synonymous with heavy industry and football. Coal mining, railways and ship-building provided an economic base upon which football - professional and amateur - flourished. Middlesbrough, Newcastle United and Sunderland all established themselves as national forces by winning League titles, FA Cups and by breaking records in the transfer market and in stadium attendances. They helped shape the area's identity, its sense of itself and the country's idea of the North-East.

Michael Walker first arrived in the north-east as a student in 1984. Ten years later he returned as a football reporter for The Guardian. He has been there ever since working also for The Observer, The Independent and Daily Mail. In 2006 he was commissioned by The Irish Times to write a season-long series on Sunderland, then Irish-owned and with Roy Keane as manager. Those articles formed the germ of the idea of this book.