Jon Newsome (born 6 September 1970) is an English football coach and former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
.
As a player, he was a
defender from 1989 until 2000, notably in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
for
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
,
Leeds United and
Norwich City. Whilst with Leeds he was part of the team who won the
First Division in 1992. He also appeared in the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
for
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
.
Following retirement, he worked for
Grimsby Town as a scout before largely working away from the sport, before working as a coach and an agent.
Playing career
Newsome began his career at
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
, where as a YTS scholar was present at the Hillsborough disaster carrying out ball boy duties. He made his first team debut just three days after his nineteenth birthday, coming on as substitute for the last few minutes against Arsenal at Highbury in a 5-0 defeat. His full debut came against Aldershot in the League Cup and his full League debut came against Millwall shortly after. At the end of the season he joined
Leeds United in 1991. At Leeds he played in ten games and scored twice (against
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
and
Sheffield United - the latter a crucial goal to give Leeds United the lead in the title decider) as they won the
First Division in 1992, meaning Newsome was eligible for a medal.
Norwich City manager
John Deehan
John Matthew Deehan (born 6 August 1957) is an English former football manager and player.
During his playing career he was a footballer from 1975 until 1990 and is most well known for his spells as a striker for Aston Villa and Norwich City. ...
paid Leeds £1,000,000 for his services in 1994. It was the first time that City had paid seven figures for a player and he remained the club's record signing until 2005 when City paid £3,000,000 for
Dean Ashton.
Newsome was immediately installed as Norwich captain and became a popular figure with supporters. They voted him
Norwich City player of the year
The Norwich City Player of the Season award is voted for annually by Norwich City's supporters, in recognition of the best overall performance by an individual player throughout the football season. As a mark of respect, the trophy is named The B ...
at the end of his first season. His good form was not enough, however, to prevent Norwich from being relegated to division one. While Newsome could have doubtless returned to the Premiership he decided to remain at the club to help Norwich regain promotion. He signalled his intent with two excellent headed goals in a 3–1 victory on the opening day of the season against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.
However the latter part of the 1995/6 season saw Norwich in a perilous financial position and they were forced to sell Newsome to Sheffield Wednesday for £1,600,000 in a move that enraged supporters and increased the protests against chairman Robert Chase. Newsome's career at
Hillsborough
Hillsborough may refer to:
Australia
*Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie
Canada
*Hillsborough, New Brunswick
*Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick
* Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County
*Hillsborough (electoral d ...
was frequently interrupted by injury and despite frequent interest from other clubs, he was forced to retire through injury in 2000.
After playing
Newsome has remained popular with Norwich City supporters, and he returned to
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum.
N ...
in September 2002 to play in the exhibition match against Harwich & Parkestone that marked the club's centenary.
Upon retirement, Newsome briefly worked as a scout for
Grimsby Town before becoming the owner of a
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
-based car sales company, AutoMarques. In late 2018 he closed his motor trade business and started work as a football agent for his own company Innov8 Sports Management Ltd. At the beginning of 2021 Newsome joined New Era Global Sports Management Ltd working as a football intermediary (agent).
Honours
*
First Division:
1991–92
*
FA Charity Shield
The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...
:
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
Awards
* Norwich City player of the year: 1995
References
External links
Career information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newsome, Jon
English men's footballers
Footballers from Sheffield
Leeds United F.C. players
Norwich City F.C. players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
1970 births
Living people
Premier League players
English Football League players
Men's association football defenders
Grimsby Town F.C. non-playing staff