Jump to content

Neil Lennon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 86.141.109.150 (talk) at 16:50, 30 June 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Neil Lennon
Personal information
Full name Neil Francis Lennon
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Celtic Coaching Staff
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:29, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971 in Lurgan, County Armagh) is a former professional footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the former captain of Celtic. On the 12 June 2007 he signed a 1 year deal with the option of a second with Nottingham Forest. On 31 January 2008, Neil moved on a free transfer to League Two side Wycombe Wanderers. On 3 April 2008 he returned to Celtic to join the coaching staff[1].

Career

File:Elliott lifs cup.JPG
Lennon (bottom right) enjoying Leicester's League Cup victory in 2000

After joining Manchester City as trainee in 1989, Lennon played for Crewe and Leicester City, before moving to Celtic, in 2000 where he became a cult hero.[2] Lennon became Celtic captain in 2005.

When his former club Leicester City sacked Craig Levein, Lennon was linked with a return to the Midlands side in a player-manager role. He went on record saying he was flattered but wanted to captain Celtic to the SPL title.[3]

Although he was also linked with a possible move to Crystal Palace in a player/coach role in the summer of 2006,[4] on 23 June 2006, Celtic announced he had signed a new one-year contract. Sunderland manager Roy Keane made an attempt to sign Lennon prior to the closure of the August 2006 transfer window, but his approach for the player was rejected by Celtic. On 25 April 2007, Lennon announced he would be leaving Celtic. He ended his service for the club on 26 May 2007 by captaining the team to victory in the Scottish Cup Final against Dunfermline Athletic; Celtic’s 1-0 win clinched the League/Cup Double.

Lennon was linked with the vacant manager's job at Hibernian in Edinburgh after the resignation of John Collins.[5] However, he lost out to Mixu Paatelainen.

Lennon was capped 40 times by Northern Ireland, scoring two goals. He is a former captain of the team.

Lennon decided to retire from international football in August 2002 upon receiving a death threat before a Northern Ireland match against Cyprus. The threats came after his alleged claim that he wanted to play for a team representing a United Ireland.[6] The threat was made by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, although the organisation later disputed this [7]. The death threat was met with widespread disgust from both sections of the community in Northern Ireland.[8]

Lennon joined Nottingham Forest on a one year deal with an option for a second year on 12 June 2007. Lennon, however, did not join in a coaching capacity as first thought.[9]

Lennon made his Nottingham Forest debut captaining the side in a 0-0 draw at home to Bournemouth. He missed a week's training with Forest because of family reasons in Scotland and lost his place in the team as a consequence.

Lennon joined Wycombe Wanderers on January 31, 2008[10], leaving on April 3, 2008 to take up the aforementioned coaching role with Celtic.

Personal

In his 2006 memoir, Neil Lennon: Man and Bhoy, Lennon revealed that he had suffered from clinical depression for seven years, and was taking antidepressants.[11]

Honours

Leicester City

References

  1. ^ Exclusive: Lenny comes home
  2. ^ "Lennon seals Celtic move". BBC Sport. 2000-12-09. Retrieved 2000-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Crystal Palace open Lennon talks". BBC Sport. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2006-06-20. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "Easter Road job interests Lennon". BBC Sport. 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2007-12-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ ESPN.com Soccernet Scotland: News - Lennon delighted with reception
  6. ^ Who really threatened to kill Neil Lennon?; Making death threats | Sunday Herald, The | Find Articles at BNET.com
  7. ^ BBC NEWS | Programmes | World at One | Driven out by hate
  8. ^ "Lennon signs for the Reds". BBC Sport. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-06-12. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Veteran Lennon signs for Wycombe". BBC Sport. 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Scotland on Sunday
Sporting positions
Preceded by Celtic F.C. captain
2005-2007 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Lennon&oldid=222686444"