By Jonathan Brown
FORMER Annalong player Matthew Newell has returned to the club as first-team manager.
Annalong announced Newell’s appointment last week, with Stephen Burden coming in as assistant player-manager, John Sloan taking over the goalkeeper coach role and Keith McCullough operating as kitman.
Newell previously played for Annalong and managed the first team as a teenager between 2013 and 2015.
The 33-year-old was instrumental in setting up Annalong’s youth system before going on to have spells with Warrenpoint Town Under-20s, Glenavon’s academy and the Valley Rangers first team as part of Daryl Parke’s management team.
Newell had been with Premier Intermediate League side Knockbreda since 2024, taking over as first-team assistant head coach last year.
The UEFA ‘B’ Licence coach left Knockbreda at the end of the 2025/26 season and was planning on taking a break from football.
“I was just going to slide out of Knockbreda and take it easy for a few months.
“I said to my wife that I wouldn’t make a big fuss. If anything comes up, I’ll maybe take a look at it, but I wasn’t going to jump at the first thing that came to me.
“But football is in you and it’s hard to get it out of you.
“When Annalong come and pull at your heartstrings, it’s hard to say no,” Newell said.
The Annalong native was just 18 when he was given the first-team job back in 2013, and he admits there is some unfinished business from his first stint in charge.
