‘Michael won our hearts’

Cliftonville’s Club Chaplain, Reverend Dario Leal, has penned a reflective message amid a difficult week for all involved in Irish League football.

Commenting on the “shock, the disbelief and the sadness” surrounding the tragic loss of Michael Newberry, he offers support to anyone who is facing personal struggles in their own lives.

Tributes will be paid to Michael ahead of Saturday’s Irish Cup tie with Banbridge Rangers at Solitude, where football fans of all backgrounds have been united in grief as they pay their own respects to the popular defender, who sadly passed away just days ago.

Michael Newberry

Sometimes life throws you a fireball and you do not know how to handle or stop it. What is certain is that whatever we do, we know we are going to get burned and it will leave a mark.

This is what happened to the Cliftonville family with Michael Newberry’s sudden and untimely loss earlier this week.

The shock, the disbelief and the sadness of this news has shaken us, and now we are grieving a beautiful life that left us too early.

Michael only came to Solitude this summer. For a few years, he was our rival playing against us, yet it felt as if he was one of the senior players. He won the hearts of his team-mates and supporters in a short time. This is why it is difficult to even write these words. Like you, I would have loved to see him achieving his dreams and aspirations wearing the Cliftonville Red. He was brave on the pitch and a gentle and ever-so-friendly young man.

Today, we grieve. Today, we pause and centre on what matters, and that is to celebrate the gift of life. Like many who knew him, I was looking forward to telling him ‘Happy Birthday, Michael’ and shaking his hand on Monday, and now I grieve that this is no longer possible.

We can still celebrate life; it is a God-giving gift, even if sometimes it throws us a fireball that hurts, and we are hurting now. In the coming days and weeks, we will have an opportunity to celebrate Michael’s life and say much more. However, as we look into this New Year, let us come together as a family to hold each other up, to celebrate life in all its fullness, and to look at the future with hope.

The ancient poetry of the Old Testament, in the book of Ecclesiastes, tells us that “there is a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to heal, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, a time to dance and a time to embrace”.

Let us embrace one another as we welcome 2025.

Michael, you will live in our hearts.

We have a Chaplaincy Team at Cliftonville. If anyone is struggling and needs to talk, please reach out.

Rev Dario Leal
Senior Chaplain, Cliftonville FC
Minister, 1st Ballynahinch Presbyterian Church