THIS weekend, at least one of the North-East’s three Premier League football teams will be relegated to the Championship.

Readers not interested in football are forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. But relegation is about more than just staying in the Premier League.

For those teams unlucky enough to fall through the trapdoor, relegation will be a financial, as well as a footballing, catastrophe.

And it’s not just the jobs of highlypaid professional sportsmen that are at risk.

If Newcastle, Sunderland or Middlesbrough are forced into a fire sale of their best assets, most of the players moved on will find another wellpaid job before the start of a new season.

Others will not be so lucky. The backroom staff who work so hard to make sure the pitch is perfect, the caterers who toil to make pies for hungry fans at half-time, and the cleaners who make certain the toilets flush correctly, could find themselves out of work.

None of them enjoy the security of being able to walk into another job at a different club.

Relegation will have a wider economic knock-on effect, too.

Championship football attracts smaller crowds and fewer travelling supporters. Less money will be spent in the region.

Millions of pounds will be lost and businesses of all kinds will feel the pinch.

We wish all our clubs good luck tomorrow – may the best team win. To the vanquished, we hope relegation will be only a temporary setback.