[5][6] He made three league appearances for Crewe Alexandra in 1983 as part of a trial[6] before signing for Wigan Athletic of the Third Division in October of that year.
However, the three-man strike force was looking like a success as they spearheaded Everton to the top of the league in late autumn of 1989 and were starting to look like serious title contenders for perhaps the first time since Howard Kendall's departure as manager in June 1987, but Everton were unable to maintain this form and dipped to sixth place in the final table.
[10] His hat-trick also made history as the first by an English player in the newly re-branded UEFA Champions League since its transformation from the five-round knockout format of the original European Cup.
Newell left Birmingham to join West Ham United on loan in December 1996, before a similar spell at Bradford City in March 1997.
Before he was loaned to West Ham, Birmingham had accepted a £750,000 bid from Bolton Wanderers for Newell, but he was unable to agree a contract and the transfer fell through.
It was reported that Newell won a Pop Idol-style poll to become manager[15] but he was offered and signed a contract before the "results" were announced.
Newell was linked with jobs at several larger clubs, such as Leicester City,[16] but remained at Luton and later signed a four-year contract.
[17] Newell's relationship with Luton turned sour after a poor start to the 2006–07 season, in which he criticised chairman Bill Tomlins' running of the club.
[19] Mike Newell was unveiled as the new manager of Grimsby Town at a press conference on 6 October 2008, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract at Blundell Park.
Grimsby were just two places above the League Two relegation zone at the time and one of only two senior clubs in England without a victory, with only the three sides who had been docked points below them in the table.
[22] Newell was given time and money by the Grimsby board to avoid relegation, a feat accomplished with some shrewd deals in the transfer market.
For 2009–10, Newell was given funds to sign former loanees Peter Sweeney, Barry Conlon, Joe Widdowson and Adrian Forbes.
He bolstered the ranks further with midfielder Michael Leary, striker Chris Jones and Sunderland goalkeeper Nick Colgan.
[24] On 17 December 2020, Newell was appointed assistant to Kevin Sheedy as the new managerial team at League of Ireland Premier Division side Waterford.
[28] Following a match against Queens Park Rangers on 11 November 2006 Newell criticised female assistant referee, Amy Rayner, using sexist comments, and later apologised.
[29] Following a match against West Bromwich Albion on 12 January 2007, Newell criticised the influence of foreign players in the English game, stating that it was "going soft.
In February 2010, five months after Newell's sacking from Grimsby Town, he began court proceedings to sue Grimsby and John Fenty, claiming he was owed £53,845.61 in lost earnings as well as claiming a drunk Fenty had slammed a chair on the floor and pulled on Newell's tie following his final game in charge.
[36] On 20 December 2006, Stevens presented his preliminary report, which found that, although the level of corruption within English football was not as high as had been anticipated, there were several causes for concern, and 17 transfer deals were still subject to further scrutiny.