As the days became shorter and the nights darker, Simon Hughes began a journey through the country's most successful football region during the winter of the 2016/17 English season. Starting in Carlisle and heading south, Hughes went through Barrow, Morecambe and towards the Fylde coast. He trekked inland to Preston, to Burnley, to Accrington. From Southport, he moved into deepest Merseyside and then to Cheshire, Greater Manchester and inner-city Manchester itself. From the Premier League to Sunday League, Hughes met the individuals shaping the game; those able to explain how and why trends and moods are shifting. Featuring interviews with Jurgen Klopp, Sean Dyche, Gary Neville and many other managers, players, owners, chairmen, directors and politicians, On the Brink studies the modern state of the North West's professional clubs. Part social examination, part travelogue, Hughes rediscovers and laces together some of the personalities and moments that have helped define football history.

Simon Hughes is a journalist, author and editor. He focuses on Merseyside football in the Independent and travels elsewhere for the Sunday Telegraph. His book Red Machine won the Antonio Ghirelli Prize for Italian Soccer Foreign Book of the Year in 2014. His other titles include Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout, Men in White Suits and Ring of Fire. He lives in Liverpool.