SEPARATING the bones of business from the emotions of sport has never been simple, particularly where professionalism is concerned.

Whatever the chosen game - be it football, rugby or cricket - passion runs at fever pitch while a cool head for finance is required off the field.

When rugby union belatedly turned professional in the mid-1990s, wallets were opened wider than the Tyne Tunnel as top-flight clubs looked to buy their way into the big time.

Newcastle Falcons were no exception. They hit the headlines by signing the game's first "million-pound man" in the colossal shape of former New Zealand winger Inga Tuigamala.

A host of other fading stars were also drafted in by one of the North-East's most famous rugby names, Rob Andrew, who was recruited as director of rugby.

Investment needs to bring profit and, on the playing field certainly, Falcons enjoyed instant success with promotion from the First Division in 1997 and winning the Premiership in 1998.

Five years on and the club is at something of a crossroads.

One could say the club has failed to maintain its momentum, or perhaps it is fairer to suggest other clubs have caught up since those early, heady days. Either way, the side now languishes at the bottom of the Zurich Premiership.

At the same time, it is developing one of the best stadiums in the league and has secured England Academy status to bring on some of the national players of the future.

The infrastructure skirting the playing turf is a major regional success story.

Metnor Group, based in Newcastle, built the £12m first phase - consisting of covered stands on the west (incorporating the biggest bar in the North-East) and south side and an uncovered north stand.

The next stage of a £20m total development will see a roof put on the north terrace and a covered training barn with synthetic pitch alongside the Kingston Park ground.

A jolly Dave Thompson, who bought the club from former owner Sir John Hall, praised Metnor's work at the official opening on Saturday.

"On time, on budget and all in the North-East", he said.

This is true and it is testament to Mr Thompson's faith in using a local company.

Steve Rankin, managing director of Metnor, said the project was completed in 30 weeks and would be showcased to companies across the UK.

"It is the best advert we can have - a delighted client and a lovely shop window via our corporate box," he said.

"It was a big job for us and very high profile. We were putting our neck on the line doing it in such a short space of time. I heard someone last week saying 'I bet that doesn't happen', and now they are eating their words."

The doubting Thomas is not the only one left contemplating a highly successful weekend for the Falcons.

Seventeen television cameras dotted around the ground, a makeshift studio in one corner and countless technicians leading wires hither and thither heralded the presence of Sky TV's rugby roadshow.

A cynic could suggest there was a whiff of blood in the air - the Falcons unveiling their shiny new stadium while the team was tipped to be slaughtered on the field.

But the God of sports scriptwriting was smiling kindly on the North-East as a dramatic second half secured a 32-17 win over visiting Harlequins, including a bonus league point for scoring four tries in the match.

Time will tell if this is the start of a renaissance after seven straight league defeats but occupying the number 12 spot in a dozen-strong league is enough to focus the mind.

The threat of relegation to the business end of the Falcons is stark.

There seems little point in having a 10,000-capacity stadium to entertain first division clubs with crowds greatly reduced from the 6,109 present on Saturday.

One of the club's biggest assets, England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, is also understood to be getting a clause put in his new contract stating that if Falcons were relegated they would need to bounce straight back up the following year or he could leave.

The club's turnover stands at between £5m and £6m a year, a large proportion of which is likely to be wage driven. There is also the task of keeping sponsors Northern Rock interested.

The club will sit down with the mortgage bank's bosses in September next year to renegotiate the sponsorship deal.

Were they to be relegated at the end of this season, the Falcons would need to return to the top-flight immediately to get financial backing similar to that which it already enjoys.

Despite all these headaches, Falcons chief executive John Parkinson remains upbeat.

"We are not totally devoid of ideas," he said: "We have thought long and hard about what might happen if we are relegated next season but we are confident we will be okay."

Mr Parkinson said one year in the wilderness would not do too much damage. Parachute payments from the Rugby Football Union and the academy grant would mean income for 2003-04 would be "marginally" down on the current year.

They are also looking at ways of diversifying the use of their new facilities.

Mr Parkinson, speaking in the new west stand which houses the hospitality suites, said: "We play 14 games of rugby a year and so there are over 350 days when the stands are free.

"We have a facility which enables us to do certain things when we are not playing rugby. We have got to start looking at event management. Rugby is no longer about philanthropy, this is a business and we have got to get it right. These facilities are at the heart of a financial strategy."

Talking in the plush corridors of the new stand, the smell of freshly applied paint still strong, it is easy to see how that financial strategy has succeeded to date.

All that remains now is for organisation on the field to emulate the coordination in the boardroom for the Falcons to reverse the current run of fortune and stave off the threat of relegation which threatens to unravel the new stadium successes.