| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Joseph Newson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1960-12-07)7 December 1960 (age 64)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Stepney, England[2] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender[1] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1975–1978 | Charlton Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1978–1979 | Charlton Athletic | 0 | (0) |
| 1979–1985 | Maidstone United | 226 | (45) |
| 1985–1989 | Bournemouth | 177 | (23) |
| 1989–1993 | Fulham | 102 | (4) |
| 1993–1995 | Barnet | 59 | (3) |
| 1995 | →Tottenham Hotspur (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Aylesbury United | 32 | (3) |
| 1995 | Östers IF | 4 | (1) |
| 1996–1997 | Aylesbury United | 14 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 18 | (1) |
| 1998 | Aylesbury United | 4 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 10 | (0) |
| 1999–2001 | Fisher Athletic | ||
| 2001 | Romford | 7 | (0) |
| Total | 653 | (84) | |
| International career | |||
| 1983–1984 | England C | 5 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Mark Joseph Newson (born 7 December 1960) is an English formerfootballer. He has since moved into coaching.
Newson's career began as an apprentice atCharlton Athletic, although he made no first-team appearances for the club and was released in 1979. He signed forMaidstone United ahead of the 1979–80 season, and spent six seasons with the club, enjoying success when Maidstone won the1983–84 Alliance Premier League. He joinedBournemouth in 1985, and captained the side to theThird Division title during the1986–87 season. Newson later signed forFulham in 1989, captaining the club for four years. He was captain atBarnet for two years, before joiningTottenham Hotspur on loan in order to play in the club's1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup games. He spent a brief spell at Swedish clubÖsters, before playing out the remainder of his career at four different non-league clubs.
After gaining a number of coaching qualifications, Newson began coaching as a youth team coach atWest Ham United. He later became assistant manager atVCD Athletic in 2009, before moving toChatham Town a year later. He was appointed as a youth team coach atChampionship clubCrystal Palace in 2011. He then spent a-year-and-two-months as assistant manager atLeague One sideStevenage.
Newson began his career atCharlton Athletic, and progressed through the club's youth system.[4] However, he was unable to break into the first-team, and was subsequently released by the club at the end of the 1978–79 campaign.[4] Newson joinedMaidstone United in 1979, remaining at the club for over six years. During his time at Maidstone, Newson helped the club win the1983–84 Alliance Premier League.[5] After impressing the following season under managerBarry Fry, being described as "one of the best midfielders outside ofthe Football League",[6] Newson attracted the interest of newBournemouth managerHarry Redknapp, who wished to make Newson one of his first signings ahead of the 1985–86 season.[7] He signed for Bournemouth in the summer of 1985, with an administrative error in Newson's contract meaning he was able to join Bournemouth on a free transfer.[6] Fry had initially told Bournemouth he wanted £70,000 for Newson, but Redknapp had been aware of the fact that Newson was not on a contract at Maidstone, and could consequently be signed on a free transfer.[8] It proved to be a fruitful move for both parties as Newson stayed with the club for four years.[4] He was made captain during the 1986–87 campaign,[9] his second season with the club, and guided Bournemouth to theThird Division title, winning the league by a margin of three points, ahead of second-placeMiddlesbrough.[10] Newson went on to make almost 200 appearances for the club during his four-year tenure, scoring 23 goals.[11]
Newson signed forFulham towards the latter stages of 1989, who were playing in the Third Division, for a fee of £100,000.[8] On signing for the club, Newson was made captain, and went on to make over 100 appearances for the west-London club over four seasons.[4] He made 16 appearances for the club during the1989–90 season,[4] as Fulham managed to avoid relegation on the last day of the season.[12] Newson played 31 timesthe following season, scoring once,[4] with Fulham again narrowly escaping the drop after earning four points in their last two games.[13][14] He scored three goals in 26 appearances during Fulham's1991–92 campaign,[4] as the club improved dramatically to finish in ninth place,[15] only four points behindPeterborough United who were occupying the final play-off spot.[16] Newson made 29 league appearances for Fulham in hisfinal season with the club, with injuries disrupting his season.[4]
Ahead of the1993–94 season, Newson signed forBarnet ofDivision Two,[17] captaining the side for two seasons and making 59 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals.[4][18] In June 1995, at the age of 35, Newson signed forPremier League sideTottenham Hotspur on a short-term loan deal.[18] Newson joined Tottenham on loan in order to play in the club's1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup campaign.[18] Tottenham wished to field a weakened side for their four Intertoto Cup games, with Tottenham's home games being played atBrighton & Hove Albion'sGoldstone Ground, and subsequently signed several loan players from local clubs mixed with a number of youth players.[18] He made his first appearance for Tottenham in a 2–0 defeat to Swiss clubLuzern, playing the whole match.[18] Newson played in the club's next group match, a 2–1 away win againstRudar Velenje on 1 July 1995, in what turned out to be Tottenham's only victory of the tournament.[19] He played in a 2–1 defeat toÖsters, followed by the club's biggest ever defeat, an 8–0 loss away toBundesliga sideFC Köln on 22 July.[20] His loan ended after the final group match, and he subsequently returned to Barnet in July 1995.[18]
He joinedAylesbury United ahead of the1995–96 season.[4] Newson made his debut for the club in a 1–0 defeat toDulwich Hamlet, playing alongside fellow debutantGary Smith, on the opening day of the season.[21] During the season, Newson made 32 appearances for the club, scoring three goals – his first goal coming in a 2–2 away draw againstBoreham Wood on 16 March 1996.[22] He remained at Aylesbury for another season, although briefly played for Swedish club Östers,[4] before returning to Aylesbury United in November 1996.[4] He then joinedGravesend & Northfleet, only to return to Aylesbury for a third time and make four appearances at the end of the1997–98 season.[4] Newson rejoined Gravesend in 1998,[4] before spending two years withFisher Athletic.[23][24] Newson would end his playing career withRomford, signing for the club in 2001.[25] He made his debut for Romford againstEast Thurrock United on 8 September 2001, becoming the oldest ever Romford player at the age of 40.[25] He made eight appearances for the club in all competitions, playing his final game againstMarlow on 27 October 2001.[25]
During the1983–84 season, Newson was called up to play for theEngland C team, who represent England at non-league level, winning five caps for his country.[4][26]
Following his retirement from the professional game, Newson qualified as aUEFA 'A' licence football coach in 1999.[27] He also worked as anFA Licensed Tutor, and worked for the Surrey FA for a number of years, concentrating solely on improving coaches, creating a course described as "one of the best-regarded coaching programmes in the country".[28] Newson later worked for the Kent FA.[24] He is one of only a handful of UEFA coach assessors that exist in the country.[24]
His early coaching career included spending time withWest Ham United,[4] where he helped to develop academy players such asJunior Stanislas andZavon Hines.[27] Newson was also one of the senior coaches involved with theDavid Beckham Academy.[27] In November 2009, Newson was appointed assistant manager atVCD Athletic.[27] On appointing Newson as his assistant, VCD Athletic manager Paul Foley stated – "He has always been a winner, a character and a real football person with the presence that comes with people who have actually been there and done it, so he brings all of those personal qualities along too".[27] Newson followed Foley toChatham Town in the summer of 2010, again as assistant manager.[24][29] He later worked as a youth team coach atCrystal Palace in 2011.[26]
In January 2012, Newson joinedLeague One sideStevenage as part ofGary Smith's backroom staff, taking on the role of assistant manager.[26] He left Stevenage when Smith was sacked in March 2013.[30]
He is now first-team coach at National League club Dover Athletic.