Sports
Mourning Michael Newberry: ‘He made me proud beyond words – I don’t know why that night he felt he couldn’t ring us’
“Me and Michael would always talk, every day, without fail,” says Ethan Devine.
On December 30, Devine sent Michael Newberry, the former Newcastle United youngster and his title-winning Linfield team-mate and close friend, a message on his 27th birthday. It will be forever unopened. Michael, a defender with Cliftonville in the Northern Irish Premiership, had passed away suddenly.
Michael’s life revolved around football and growing up on Stanhope Street — less than a 10-minute walk from Newcastle United’s home, St James’ Park — was only ever going to be defined by the city’s football club. The defender joined Newcastle’s academy aged 11 and, seven years later, won the highly coveted Wor Jackie Trophy: awarded to the club’s most promising youth prospect each season, ahead of future first-team regular Sean Longstaff.
Injuries prevented Michael from a first-team appearance at Newcastle, but he carved out a professional career in Iceland and, later, Northern Ireland, playing at Linfield alongside Devine as they won a league title together in 2022. “We became close, along with a few others,” says Devine. “It was Michael who helped mature me as a man. He kept me on the right path and was such an important person in my life.”
Cliftonville travel from the north of Belfast to the south of the capital to take on Michael’s former club Linfield today in the first meeting since his passing. His team-mates, friends and family are still trying to come to terms with their loss.
Michael holding Devine’s daughter (Photo courtesy of Ethan Devine)
On an icy lunchtime in Newcastle, Adrian Salem is in the warmth of his local pub. It is packed as Newcastle’s Premier League game kicks off.
For Adrian, football can provide the escapism that is essential after the most difficult days of his life. Saturdays have not been the same since Michael, his younger brother, died.
Adrian, eight years older, recalls how their father, also Michael Newberry and a former non-League footballer at nearby Gateshead, took them to training sessions. Michael would show off the skills he was learning to his brother. In return, Adrian — passionate about boxing — had Michael as a sparring partner.
Michael was understandably disheartened after leaving Newcastle in 2018. “He was telling us that he hadn’t made it,” Adrian recalls, shaking his head. “Every time we spoke, I told him how proud we all were of him and how others looked up to him. I would always give him a cuddle.”
Adrian, a keen boxer, spent hours practising his skills with Michael (Photo courtesy of Adrian Salem)
Michael’s football journey began at Red House Farm — a junior football club in Gosforth, north of Newcastle. “Michael was a great young lad, he was always smiling,” Mark Bolam, his coach from the youth club, says. “He loved football and was a really popular kid.”
Bolam recounts how Michael, even after signing for Newcastle, would return to training sessions and matches to support the team. “He got on so well with all the lads; there was a real bond. I remember Peter Beardsley (the former forward who captained Newcastle, before becoming a coach at St. James’ Park, including a spell as caretaker manager in 2010) at Newcastle telling me that Michael was the first player at training and the last one to leave. He would help set up our sessions.”
Michael, left, began his youth career at Red House Farm (Photo courtesy of Red House Farm)
At Newcastle, Michael was elevated above his age categories, playing for the under-18s aged 15. He struck up a centre-back partnership with Owen Bailey, one year his junior, from the under-14 side through to under-21 level.
“Michael was ahead of his time — a modern player,” says Bailey, now a midfielder with League Two side Doncaster Rovers. “He was fast, strong, good on the ball.”
Bailey, 25, describes how Michael was “one of the nicest lads I’ve met. He would go out of his way to make sure everyone was fine from a personal perspective before worrying about football, especially the younger ones. In that environment, everyone is competing for scholarships and pro contracts.”
Michael was elevated above his age category in Newcastle’s youth system (Photo courtesy of Adrian Salem)
Bailey says it was evident Michael was one of the standout players. “He never acted like he was — there was real humility,” he adds. “He clicked with everyone and had a laugh. He was such a good, funny person. He was the perfect example of the Geordie character: worked hard but didn’t take himself too seriously.”
That view was shared by another team-mate at St James’ Park, Dan Barlaser, the Middlesbrough midfielder. “He worked so hard in the gym — he was always in great shape,” Barlaser told the Newcastle programme. “He was always smiling, laughing. I will cherish those memories.”
Michael, far left, watches a training session alongside team-mates Ivan Toney, Longstaff and Barlaser (Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Despite being two of the most promising players in Newcastle’s youth system, neither Michael nor Bailey would play for the senior side. “He was really close,” Bailey says. “But there was a lot of change in the academy and that didn’t help anyone. A lot of the best talents dropped off the radar.”
Having signed a professional contract, Michael had a hairline fracture in his back that ruled him out for eight months during his final year at the club. Later, Newcastle’s under-23 captain Bailey suffered knee injuries that prevented him from playing for 18 months. The timings meant neither was offered further contracts.
Bailey argues Newcastle’s geographical isolation makes it particularly difficult for young players to continue their careers. Unlike other English urban centres such as London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham, there is not a deep network of local clubs in the north east as alternatives. Bailey resurrected his career at Gateshead, then in the sixth tier.
Michael, who grew up a 10-minute walk from St. James’ Park, was a lifelong Newcastle fan (Photo courtesy of Adrian Salem)
Michael had interest from Blackburn Rovers and a trial with Motherwell in Scotland, before agent Nick McCreery told Michael that Icelandic club U.M.F. Vikingur had offered a contract.
Adrian believes Michael’s left-field move had been influenced by his own career. Adrian served in the army in Afghanistan and Iraq and has since worked in India and Dubai. “Michael maybe saw that and felt nothing would stop him moving away,” Adrian says.
Michael spent three seasons playing regularly in Iceland. “He was having the time of his life,” Adrian says, before adding that it was a challenge. “It was a vast, empty area. It’s one thing to experience that, but living there for that length of time is a lot. We knew he eventually missed home.”
Michael alongside his brother (Photo courtesy of Adrian Salem)
Michael was capped by Northern Ireland’s youth teams. Qualifying through his grandfather’s Belfast roots, he played for the under-17 and under-19 sides.
It was there that he first worked with David Healy and Ross Oliver. In January 2021, Michael signed for Northern Ireland champions Linfield, who were managed by Healy with Oliver as his assistant. “This was such a big deal,” Adrian says. Not only was it a proud moment for the family with their roots, but Linfield are the biggest club in the country. “I’m English and I’ve pals who support Linfield. It made me proud beyond words.”
Michael had won the Wor Jackie Trophy at Newcastle, named after Jackie Milburn, who remains Newcastle’s second-highest goalscorer, having scored 200 competitive goals. After leaving Newcastle in 1957, Milburn moved to Belfast and as player-manager won nine trophies.
Michael joined Linfield when they were top of the league and had won the previous two titles, arriving at the same time as midfielder Cammy Palmer, who came from Scotland. “We clicked straight away,” says Palmer, who stayed in the same hotel with Michael before they moved in together. Palmer, three years younger, remembers driving the pair to training in a car full of suitcases and backpacks.
“He was always there for a chat, no matter what,” he adds. “We both missed our families and friends, but we had each other and grew into the club and the city.”
They helped Linfield win another two league titles. “He got on with absolutely everyone. My wife came over and there was never any problem.”
Palmer and Michael lived together after joining Linfield in 2021 (Photo courtesy of Cammy Palmer)
When Michael scored his first Linfield goal, Healy told Palmer in the dressing room he would need to start chipping in or he wouldn’t have the bragging rights. They became close friends with team-mates Conor Pepper and Kirk Millar. “We would go round to Conor’s house to play poker,” Palmer says. “We socialised a lot. It was a good team and the bonds were close.”
Palmer says what he remembers most about Michael was how he regularly sat with different groups and prioritised checking in with the youngsters. “We always had a laugh, but he was there for me when I needed a chat or felt I was struggling. I hope I was that person for him.”
In January 2022, a year into Michael’s and Palmer’s time at Linfield, the club signed Devine from Championship club Knockbreda. A then-20-year-old who had never played in the top flight, the move was a big step in the striker’s career. “As soon as I arrived, Michael looked after me,” Devine says.
Devine and Michael won multiple trophies together at Linfield (Photo courtesy of Ethan Devine)
Last summer, Michael left Linfield for Cliftonville. He moved in with three team-mates who all transferred clubs that summer: Arran Pettifer, Axel Piesold and Taylor Steven. “He was like the father figure of that house,” Devine says. “He was always trying to look out for people.”
On Christmas Day, Michael made dinner. “He would have known what it was like not having a support base — that summed him up,” says Palmer.
The following day, Cliftonville lost against Crusaders. Michael played the full match. On December 30, Cliftonville were scheduled to play Dungannon Swifts and on the previous night, he and Devine chatted as normal. “That friendship probably got even stronger when we were not at the same club,” says Devine.
It was the last time Devine and Michael spoke.
Devine and Michael became close friends away from football (Photo courtesy of Ethan Devine)
Michael’s brother, Adrian, could not process the news — he still can’t. “I had told him that he could pick up the phone to me anytime, it would not matter why,” he says. “I don’t know why that night he felt he couldn’t ring us. He was my little brother. I held him in my arms when he was a baby. We were always there for each other. I loved Michael so much.”
As news circulated of Michael’s death, Linfield and Cliftonville requested to the NI Football League to postpone their matches that night. The league agreed, but the other four games went ahead.
Devine, now on loan at Ballymena United, and Palmer, at Glentoran, were scheduled to play. Devine chose not to, Palmer did. “That day I wasn’t really present, my mind wasn’t there,” Palmer says. “I was very emotional. I just kept thinking of all the memories and what his family were going through. I spent the day messaging Linfield players. They were distraught. I didn’t know how to think.”
Michael and his brother, Adrian, who is travelling to Belfast for the first time for Linfield vs Cliftonville (Photo courtesy of Adrian Salem)
Newcastle remains Adrian’s community and is where Michael’s funeral took place on January 16. He never had the opportunity to take up his brother’s offer to experience Belfast and is travelling to Windsor Park for Linfield vs Cliftonville.
“If there is one thing to learn from this, it’s to always remind people of how much they mean to you and how much you love them,” says Adrian.
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(Top photos: Adrian Salem)
Sports
Florida AG launches civil rights investigation into MLB’s warning to Christian pitchers over Pride Night caps
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The attorneys general from Missouri and Florida have reacted strongly to the controversy stirred when Major League Baseball warned three San Francisco Giants players about inscribing a Bible verse on their Pride Night caps, and that reaction includes MLB being served with a subpoena that signals the launch of an official investigation.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier launched his investigation on Friday by serving MLB with a subpoena to investigate whether it is violating the civil rights of players based on their religious beliefs.
The general purpose and scope of Florida’s investigation “extend(s) to possible civil rights and deceptive and unfair trade practices violations in matters of employment concerning the business practices, policies, and procedures of Major League Baseball,” per the subpoena obtained by Fox News Digital.
In a letter from Uthmeier to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred, the AG warns that “a pattern or practice of selectively enforcing its rules to benefit favored secular beliefs over disfavored religious beliefs would not only potentially violate Florida civil rights law, but it would also violate the League’s own policies.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FACES BACKLASH FOR ITS STANCE ON CHRISTIANS WRITING BIBLE VERSES ON PRIDE CAPS
“And a practice of claiming not to discriminate based on religion while discriminating based on religion could further amount to an unfair or deceptive trade practice in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks at a news conference in Orlando on July 15, 2025, where he said U.S. Masters Swimming should not allow transgender athletes to compete against women swimmers or face legal action. Advocates Cassidy Carlisle and Lainey Armistead also attended. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service)
Uthmeier is particularly troubled by the fact MLB said its warning had nothing to do with the players’ religious beliefs but rather was strictly because of a violation of the league’s uniform code.
It should be noted MLB said in a follow-up statement to its initial warning to the players that it was merely enforcing its uniform codes and the warning had nothing to do with Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker writing a Bible verse on the team’s Pride Night Cap most of the other players wore.
MLB ACCUSED OF ‘DOUBLE STANDARD’ AFTER CALLING OUT PLAYERS’ BIBLE MESSAGES DESPITE BACKING BLM IN 2020
Uthmeier noted that doesn’t ring true and presented in his letter a handful of examples where MLB has been absolutely fine with players adding to their uniform.
“In 2019, for example, a Cincinnati Reds player wrote on his cap in tribute to a nearby mass shooting,” Uthmeier wrote to Manfred. “And in 2020, MLB evidently added new, sweeping exceptions to its uniform rules by allowing players to ‘support social justice and diversity and inclusion.’ These policy changes included permitting players to add Black Lives Matter patches to their sleeves.
“MLB therefore appears to applaud — even change its rules for — the ideological beliefs it prefers, but targets players who express religious views the League doesn’t like.”
Commissioner of Major League Baseball Robert D. Manfred Jr. speaks at the 2024 MLB Draft presented by Nike at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 14, 2024. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Florida subpoena, issued under the Florida Civil Rights Act, demands action from MLB on July 23, 2026, at 9 a.m.. At that time, MLB must deliver to the AG’s office documents including:
- All documents concerning how MLB characterized or classified the June 2026 cap writing, including, for example, whether MLB treated it as religious expression, political messaging, protest, or a violation unrelated to its content.
- All documents concerning what prompted MLB’s review of and warning regarding the June 2026 cap writing, including any complaint, media inquiry, internal escalation, or third-party communication received before the warning issued, and the timing of each relative to the warning.
- All documents concerning the actual June 2026 warnings issued by the MLB to any club.
- All documents, including drafts and internal deliberations, concerning MLB’s decision to issue and publicly announce the June 2026 warnings, and any analysis of whether doing so adhered to the Code or with MLB’s treatment of comparable non-religious expression.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp wrote “Genesis 9:12-16” on his Pride-Night themed hat. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Uthmeier is thus joining Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, who recently wrote a letter to Manfred asking the commissioner to confirm that no player who has chosen to refrain from “wearing Pride Month paraphernalia or included Bible verses on Pride Month hats” will not be disciplined in any way.
Hanaway’s letter states that if Manfred fails to answer by June 25 or does not confirm that no discipline will be levied, she too will open an investigation of MLB.
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The two attorneys general have authority over their individual states. But it affects four MLB teams.
Florida is home to two MLB teams — the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins — while Missouri is home to the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals.
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Sports
Commentary: Why MLB’s Pride Night cap condemnation isn’t the anti-Christian crackdown conservatives claim
Amid the first days of grief after Alex Vesia and his wife lost their newborn daughter last fall, Vesia noticed something as he watched the World Series on television. He paused the broadcast, then checked the video, then texted another player to make sure.
51.
Dodgers teammates wore his number on their caps. So did players from the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It was awesome,” Vesia said. “It was a very heartwarming moment.”
Moving.
Touching.
And, under baseball’s rules, illegal.
Who knew, really, until this week? Three pitchers from the San Francisco Giants wrote the name of a Bible verse on their Pride Night caps and, amid an uproar, Major League Baseball said it had warned the players that “writing of any kind, with any message” on any playing apparel is not permitted. The issue, the league said in a statement, was not what they wrote on their caps but simply that they wrote on them at all.
Said MLB in the statement: “We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as ‘Dad’, ‘Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom’ and names of family members.”
To its credit, the league did not enforce the rule when Vesia’s number started appearing on caps in the World Series. But, if you’re going to draw a line on enforcement, where should you draw it?
In San Francisco, the actions of the Giants’ pitchers were widely condemned.
“They were in for a rude awakening with the response, and it wasn’t just from the gay community,” Giants broadcaster and former pitcher Mike Krukow told KNBR, the team’s flagship radio station. “It was from the Northern California community that supports the gay community.”
In response to media inquiries, and as first reported by Outsports, MLB confirmed it had warned the three players. I asked the league whether warnings had been issued in two other instances in which players had written on their caps, including Clayton Kershaw last year writing the same Bible verse on his Pride Night cap that the Giants’ pitchers wrote this year. MLB declined to comment.
“I got chastised by the league when I put Charlie [Kirk]’s name on my hat last year, because a man was murdered in cold blood,” Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen told me, “and now these gentlemen who are relievers in San Francisco are getting chastised by the league for putting a Bible verse on their hat. It’s crazy to me.”
Treinen said league officials had told him the rule is strictly enforced.
“I straight up asked Clayton last year, ‘Did they call you when you put that on your hat?’” Treinen said. “He said, ‘No.’”
The Pride caps feature team logos decorated in the colors of the rainbow, a symbol long associated with the gay community. In the Bible verse cited by the pitchers (Genesis 9:12-16), the rainbow represents “the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures.”
That the league would warn players against writing a Bible verse on their caps ignited a wave of conservative outrage, from Vice President JD Vance to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley fired off a letter to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, alleging apparent discrimination “against baseball players who profess their Christian faith” and threatening the league’s antitrust exemption. Assistant U.S. Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon said on national television that players might be able to file a claim for employment discrimination.
That is complete nonsense. This is what you want: When employees raise an issue to their employer, the employer listens and addresses their concerns.
In 2023, the year after five Tampa Bay Rays players declined to wear rainbow logos for Pride Night, Manfred said the league would no longer compel players to do so.
“We have told teams, in terms of actual uniforms, hats, bases that we don’t think putting logos on them is a good idea just because of the desire to protect players: not putting them in a position of doing something that may make them uncomfortable because of their personal views,” Manfred said then.
Teammates congratulate Freddie Freeman after his walk-off home run gave the Dodgers a 1-0 win on June 5, when the Dodgers held their annual Pride Night. Blake Treinen, the winning pitcher that night, elected to wear his regular Dodgers cap instead of the Pride version.
(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
Manfred said the Pride Night celebrations could go on, however a team wished to stage them — or not, in the case of the Texas Rangers, the only one of the 30 MLB teams that declines to hold a Pride Night. And the league still sells Pride gear on its website for all teams, including the Rangers.
In the cases of the Giants and Dodgers, MLB grandfathered each team’s long-running use of a rainbow logo on the cap, with this accommodation to players: If you don’t feel comfortable wearing the Pride cap, just wear your regular cap.
That is what Treinen and outfielder Alex Call did when the Dodgers celebrated Pride Night. That is also what a fourth Giants pitcher did.
“My job is to abide by the rules,” Treinen said. “Ultimately, the only rule we have is to wear our team-issued uniform. So that’s what I chose to do.”
To Treinen, the decision over whether to wear a Pride cap is not about passing judgment on anyone else but about what he sees as the push “to force something on people that you know that is controversial to their faith — and, in fact, straight up against their faith.”
He expressed his support for the Giants pitchers.
“Kudos to those men over there who are standing strong in their faith,” he said. “It’s a sad thing to corner someone and try to make them feel bad about their convictions.”
I respect Treinen for explaining his viewpoint. To me, wearing a Pride cap for one night does not diminish your faith at all. It might sharpen your convictions. More important, it signals a welcome to everyone in the community that buys the tickets and broadcast subscriptions that help pay your salary.
“I think a few people made it about themselves and not about the community,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie told the Bay Area Reporter.
We always proclaim the life lessons of sports. One of them: Sometimes you have to put the team’s interests ahead of your own.
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After its massive 1-0 win over South Korea on Thursday night, Mexico has won Group A and officially clinched a spot in the knockout round.
El Tri will play its Round of 32 game in Mexico City, and will face the third-place finisher in either Group C/E/F/H/I.
This is the fourth time that Mexico has topped the group stage of a World Cup, with the other three coming in 1986, 1994 and 2002.
With the win, Mexico remains unbeaten in World Cup group games at home, going a combined 6-2-0 (W-D-L), with two wins and a draw in 1970 and 1986, and now two wins in 2026.
Before the tournament began, Mexico was listed at +6500 to win the World Cup. Now, after winning its first two games of the tournament, Mexico has surged up the oddsboard to +5000.
Can Mexico build off its first two matches and make a deep run in this tournament? Let’s check out the updated odds for El Tri as of June 19.
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Team Mexico — Stage of Elimination
Last 32: +125 (bet $10 to win $22.50 total)
Last 16: +135 (bet $10 to win $23.50 total)
Quarterfinals: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Semifinals: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Runner-up: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Outright winner: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Mexico is currently +5000 to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup after winning Group A (Getty Images).
Mexico’s Past World Cup Results:
1930: Group stage
1934: Did not qualify
1938: Withdrew
1950: Group stage
1954: Group stage
1958: Group stage
1962: Group stage
1966: Group stage
1970: Quarterfinals
1974: Did not qualify
1978: Group stage
1982: Did not qualify
1986: Quarterfinals
1990: Banned
1994: Round of 16
1998: Round of 16
2002: Round of 16
2006: Round of 16
2010: Round of 16
2014: Round of 16
2018: Round of 16
2022: Group stage
2026: TBD
What to know: Mexico has made a habit of being in the running, but never really being in the running. Make sense? Consider this: El Tri made it out of the group stage in seven consecutive World Cups (1994-2018), but never made it past the Round of 16 in any of those years. In 2022, Mexico failed to make it out of the group stage, and it will look to get back to its winning ways in 2026 after a great start to the tournament. With its win Thursday night, Mexico has now advanced to the knockout stage in eight of the last nine World Cups. It is important to note, however, that Mexico has never made it past the quarterfinals at a FIFA men’s World Cup.
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