Newton was born in Hammersmith, London. After making his way through the Chelsea youth system he was loaned out to Cardiff City in January 1992, making his debut in a 4–0 win over Chesterfield. Cardiff fell three points short of a play-off place and Newton returned to Chelsea. He played for Chelsea in the 1994 FA Cup Final, but his foul on Denis Irwin in the second half saw him cautioned and led to Manchester United receiving a penalty which was scored by Eric Cantona. He then made a defensive error which allowed United's Mark Hughes to make it 3–0.