Life will never be the same. Not for those who knew former Newcastle United academy player Michael Newberry.

Brother Adrian Salem said his younger sibling was his 'superstar'. Agent Nick McCreery described his client as a 'diamond of a lad'. Luke Charman remembered how his best friend was 'always the happy one in the room', the joker who brought a smile to others. That is why Newberry's sudden death on his 27th birthday 'sent shockwaves through the community' last month.

"You never know what hides behind a smile," brother Adrian told ChronicleLive. "A smile can hide a lot."

It has been an unimaginably difficult time, but the family have been moved by the thousands of tributes that have poured in. From the North East. From Northern Ireland. Even from Iceland. That's how many lives Newberry touched.

The community have also come together to raise £11,000 to help with the funeral costs and coaches, team-mates and officials from all of Newberry's former clubs are due to attend his service next week. It is rather fitting that the wake is taking place at St James' Park.

Charman, who rose through the ranks with Newberry at Newcastle, felt that was 'something Michael would have been happy with' as the striker tries to, somehow, come to terms with the loss of his friend.

"I have accepted it's happened, but it has still not come to the time where I can say goodbye to him," he explained to ChronicleLive. "I feel a little bit numb at the minute, but it's lovely to see just how many people he had an effect on and how many people cared about him. That's one of the saddest things because maybe he didn't realise the amount of people that did."

It is easy to see why the humble Newberry was so loved. After being named Newcastle's young player of the year, in 2016, Newberry initially felt others were more deserving of the Wor Jackie award yet it was rather telling that his team-mates thought the defender was a worthy recipient.

A professional contract followed at Newcastle - a day Newberry described as a 'dream come true' - but the Geordie was ultimately released after injuries disrupted his progress. However, Newberry never looked back with any bitterness. After one door closed, another one opened at Icelandic side Vikingur Olafsvik in 2018.

Taking the plunge meant moving far away from his family and friends for the first time, and living alone in a tiny town of little more than a thousand people, but Newberry was determined to make a name for himself. McCreery, his agent, could sense that from the first time they sat down together.

"I wanted to work with Michael straight away because I could feel his passion," he recalled to ChronicleLive. "You could tell he wore his heart on his sleeve. He knew what he wanted to do.

"What every manager I've spoken to about Michael said was that he would run through a brick wall for you, but he wouldn't do it once - he would do it twice. There are not many players like that.

"That gritty steel you saw on the pitch came out in that first meeting and I grew a liking to the lad straight away. With Michael, it was black and white - there were no grey areas - and I liked that.

"He had to take the hard route within football. It wasn't easy going to Iceland, but he knew he wanted to take that step to get his career back on track. He had the balls to go on and do it and that was the catalyst to get him the move back to the UK, which was always the dream."

Nothing was going to get in the way of that dream. Newberry made such an impact in Iceland that the defender had offers from clubs across Scandinavia, in 2021, but his heart was set on a move to Linfield, the club the Northern Ireland youth international's father and grandfather both supported.

Newberry went on to win five trophies at Linfield, including two league titles, and even played in Europe before joining Cliftonville last summer. The clubs have since come together to remember an adopted son who made Belfast his second home. That has brought some much-needed comfort to the family.

"If you understand the backgrounds of Linfield and Cliftonville, to move from one club to another when they are massive rivals, you have to have certain characteristics to gel as well as Michael did and he was a funny, hilarious, loving kid," brother Adrian added. "You couldn't help but love him.

"To now bring those clubs together speaks volumes of what kind of person he was. The love has been immense from the supporters. I can't believe he's gone, but he lives with us forever."