Born in Cambridge, Newbon attended Culford School near Bury St Edmunds, where he captained the rugby first XV and edited the school magazine. Upon leaving school he became a junior reporter in Cambridge and then a freelance Fleet Street journalist reporting on tennis and rugby union. He began his television career at Westward Television in the 1960s, and then as an ATV sports reporter for their ATV Today programme in the early 1970s.
Born in Cambridge, Newbon attended Culford School near Bury St Edmunds, where he was a rugby captain and editor of the school magazine. After leaving school, he became a junior reporter in Cambridge before becoming a freelance journalist covering tennis and rugby union for Fleet Street. He started his television career at Westward Television in the 1960s and later worked as an ATV sports reporter on their ATV Today programme in the early 1970s.