Shaun Newton

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Shaun Newton

| image =

| fullname = Shaun O'Neill Newton

| height =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1975|8|20}}

| birth_place = Camberwell, London, England

| position = Right midfielder

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1993–2001

| clubs1 = Charlton Athletic

| caps1 = 240

| goals1 = 20

| years2 = 2001–2005

| clubs2 = Wolverhampton Wanderers

| caps2 = 130

| goals2 = 12

| years3 = 2005–2007

| clubs3 = West Ham United

| caps3 = 40

| goals3 = 1

| years4 = 2007

| clubs4 = → Leicester City (loan)

| caps4 = 9

| goals4 = 1

| years5 = 2007–2008

| clubs5 = Leicester City

| caps5 = 10

| goals5 = 0

| totalcaps = 429

| totalgoals = 34

| nationalyears1 = 1996

| nationalteam1 = England U21

| nationalcaps1 = 3

| nationalgoals1 = 0

}}

Shaun O'Neill Newton (born 20 August 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right midfielder for Charlton Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United and Leicester City before ending his professional football career in 2008.

Club career

=Charlton Athletic=

Newton started his career at second-tier Charlton Athletic and worked his way up to the first team, making his debut as a 17-year-old on 14 August 1993 as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Birmingham City. He quickly became a first-team regular and was a virtual ever-present between 1995 and 1998.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} He was part of the team that reached the 1996 First Division play-offs, scoring inside the first minute of the first leg, which Crystal Palace won 3–1 on aggregate.{{cite book|last=Basset|first=Dave|title=Dave Bassett – Settling the Score|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ypHlBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT201|date=2002-10-07|publisher=John Blake Publishing|isbn=978-1-78418-511-4|page=201}}{{cite book|last=Foster|first=Richard|title=The Agony & The Ecstasy: A Comprehensive History of the Football League play-offs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3ckDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT294|date=2017-05-12|publisher=Ockley Books|isbn=978-1-912022-28-1|page=294}} This era also saw him recognised by his country as he won three England Under-21 caps during 1996. His debut came in a 2–0 win over Moldova U-21 on 31 August 1996.{{cite web |title=Shaun Newton |website=11v11.com |publisher=Association of Football Statisticians |accessdate=3 December 2018 |url= https://www.11v11.com/players/shaun-newton-2013/}}

He won promotion to the Premier League in 1998 after a play-off final victory over Sunderland, winning on penalties after a 4–4 draw, with Newton scoring Charlton's seventh penalty. Newton had earlier scored in the semi-final success over Ipswich Town to take them to Wembley.{{Cite web |title=Football: Newton's finishing touch for Charlton |first=Mike |last=Rowbottom |work=The Independent |date=14 May 1998 |accessdate=30 November 2018 |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-newtons-finishing-touch-for-charlton-1160011.html}}

The midfielder's first season in the top flight was interrupted by a knee ligament injury, but, although he recovered, the club's fortunes did not and they were relegated. He regained his spot in the side in the 1999–2000 season as the club won promotion again at the first attempt as champions. He found him often on the sidelines in the Premier League though, as Claus Jensen was signed and youngster Scott Parker emerged.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

His only goal of the 2000–01 season came in an FA Cup third round replay against Dagenham and Redbridge on 27 January 2001.{{Cite web |title=Wolves Agree Fee for Newton |first=Stuart |last=James |publisher=Sky Sports |accessdate=3 December 2018 |url= https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11684/2214982/wolves-agree-fee-for-newton}}{{Cite web |title=Newton pulls Dags down to earth |publisher=BBC Sport |date=27 January 2001 |accessdate=3 December 2018 |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/1138229.stm}} Frustrated by a lack of first-team opportunities as the team remained in Premier League, he requested a transfer in February and was placed on the transfer list.{{cite news | title =Newton seeks transfer | publisher =BBC Sport | date =19 February 2001 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/charlton_athletic/1179301.stm | accessdate =7 July 2007}} Although he remained at Charlton for a further six months, he finally left The Valley in August 2001, joining First Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers for £850,000, rising to £1 million if Wolves were promoted with him registered at the club.{{cite news | title =Wolves seal Newton deal | publisher =BBC Sport | date =7 August 2001 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wolverhampton_wanderers/1476357.stm | accessdate =7 July 2007}} In total, he had made 285 appearances for Charlton, scoring 26 goals.{{cite web | title =Shaun Newton | work =Soccerbase | publisher =Racing Post | url =https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=5840 | accessdate =7 July 2007}}

=Wolverhampton Wanderers=

Newton made a bright start at Wolves, scoring on his debut against Portsmouth and producing a career-best seasonal goal tally of 8. Despite this, a late slump saw the club fall away from the top into the play-offs, where they lost to Norwich City. However, the following season saw the midfielder win a third promotion to the top flight as the club won the play-offs, beating Sheffield United 3–0 in the final.

He was a first choice for the West Midlands club in the Premier League, something that had evaded him in his Charlton days, but Wolves only managed one season at this level. He retained his place as the 2004–05 season began, but the arrival of Glenn Hoddle as manager saw his opportunities diminish and he left the club in March 2005. In total, he made 130 appearances for Wolves, scoring 12 times.

=West Ham United=

Newton moved to West Ham United in March 2005 for an initial fee of £10,000.{{cite news | title =Hammers complete Newton capture| publisher =BBC Sport | date =10 March 2005 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/4338157.stm| accessdate =7 July 2007}} His transfer fee later rose to £125,000 after the club gained promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs in May 2005. This marked Newton's fourth promotion from the second tier and he was rewarded with a new two-year contract in July 2005.{{cite news | title =Newton agrees new West Ham deal| publisher =BBC Sport | date =6 July 2005 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/4658045.stm | accessdate =7 July 2007}} He appeared regularly for West Ham in their return to the top flight, albeit mostly as a substitute, and he was not selected for their FA Cup Final squad to face Liverpool at the season's end. His only goal for West Ham came during this season, the winner in a victory over Manchester City on 15 April 2006.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4890640.stm |title=West Ham 1–0 Man City |publisher=BBC Sport |date=15 April 2006 |accessdate=20 November 2009}}

In July 2006, Newton was suspended for seven months, backdated to 20 May 2006, after testing positive for cocaine following West Ham's FA Cup semi-final victory over Middlesbrough in April 2006.{{cite news | title =Newton banned for taking cocaine| publisher =BBC Sport | date =19 July 2006 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/5195238.stm | accessdate =7 July 2007}} He remained with the club, but only made five further appearances under his recently arrived former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley upon his return. He made a total of 49 league and cup appearances for West Ham, scoring once.

=Leicester City=

Newton joined Leicester City on loan in March 2007 until the end of the 2006–07 season.{{cite news | title =Leicester sign midfielder Newton| publisher =BBC Sport | date =10 March 2006 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/6438099.stm | accessdate =7 July 2007}} He scored his first goal for Leicester against Birmingham on 17 April 2007.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6555163.stm |title=Leicester 1–2 Birmingham |publisher=BBC Sport |date=17 April 2007 |accessdate=20 November 2009}} He was given the number 16 shirt, the third player to wear the number that season after Josh Low and Luigi Glombard. He signed a permanent one-year deal with the Championship club on 6 July 2007 after the appointment of Martin Allen.{{cite news| title = Leicester swoop for winger Newton| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/6277328.stm| publisher = BBC Sport| date = 6 July 2007| accessdate = 6 July 2007}} However his time at the club came to an end in January 2008, with Leicester now onto their third manager of the season in Ian Holloway, when his contract was terminated by mutual consent.{{cite news| title = Leicester allow Newton to move on | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/7187468.stm| publisher = BBC Sport| date = 14 January 2008 | accessdate = 3 March 2008}} He retired later that year,{{Cite web |title=Where are they now? Benayoun earns his Spurs |publisher=West Ham United F.C. |date=19 July 2017 |access-date=30 November 2018 |url= https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2017/july/19-july/where-are-they-now-benayoun-earns-his-spurs}} after spell on trial at Yeovil Town in April.{{cite news |title=Winger Newton on trial at Yeovil |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/y/yeovil/7329394.stm |publisher = BBC Sport |date=3 April 2008 |accessdate=3 December 2018}}{{Cite web |title=Youngster Webb waiting on foot injury |first=Neil |last=Perrett |work=Bournemouth Echo |date=8 April 2008 |accessdate=30 November 2018 |url= https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/2181794.amp/}}

Personal life

In 2008 Newton was found guilty of nine counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice. Newton had attempted to bypass the speeding ticket procedure for fellow footballers, Teddy Sheringham and Bobby Zamora by "losing" the tickets which had been sent to them. He was given a 28-week sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 180 hours unpaid community service. Newton was also ordered to pay £1,939 in costs and was disqualified from driving for one year.{{cite news | url=http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/2395022.Footballer_convicted_of_speeding_ticket_scam/ | title=Footballer convicted of speeding ticket scam | work=Harrow Times | date=14 July 2008 | accessdate=11 May 2015}} In July 2017, Newton was found guilty of a burglary committed while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. He was sentenced to 100 hours community service.{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/exwest-ham-player-burgled-flat-as-part-of-a-treasure-hunt-a3587896.html|title=Ex footballer who burgled flat while high spared jail after saying he was 'on treasure hunt'|first=Tony|last=Palmer|work=Evening Standard|location=London|date=14 July 2017|accessdate=15 July 2017}}

Honours

Charlton Athletic

Football League First Division play-offs: 1998{{cite web |title=How Charlton broke Sunderland hearts in classic play-off final in 1998 |first=Luke |last=Edwards |work=The Telegraph |date=23 May 2014 |access-date=30 November 2018 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/sunderland/10852858/How-Charlton-broke-Sunderland-hearts-in-classic-play-off-final-in-1998.html}}
Football League First Division: 1999–2000{{cite book |editor1-first=Glenda |editor1-last=Rollin |editor2-first=Jack |editor2-last=Rollin |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 2000–2001 |year=2000 |publisher=Headline Publishing Group |location=London |isbn=978-0-7472-7232-8 |pages=32, 120–121}}

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Football League First Division play-offs: 2003{{cite web |title=Wolves back in big time |publisher=BBC Sport |date=26 May 2003 |accessdate=30 November 2018 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/3050993.stm}}

West Ham United

Football League Championship play-offs: 2005{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/4573799.stm |title=West Ham 1–0 Preston |publisher=BBC Sport |date=30 May 2005 |accessdate=11 May 2015}}