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Neil Francis Lennon was born 25th June 1971.
During his playing career he represented Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic, where he made over 200 appearances and was appointed captain, in 2000. Before retiring as a player, he returned to England to represent Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers. Lennon made 40 appearances for Northern Ireland in nine years, scoring two goals.
Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic in March 2010, initially in a caretaker capacity after the departure of Tony Mowbray. Lennon enjoyed significant success as Celtic manager, winning three Scottish league championships, two Scottish Cups and qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League twice, before leaving the club in May 2014.
Lennon was born in Lurgan, County Armagh and attended St Michael's Grammar School in the town. As a youngster he played gaelic football for the school and was also selected for the Armagh minor team. He grew up supporting Celtic and played football for the local Lurgan Celtic youth team.
Lennon joined Glenavon, after reaching the final of the Milk Cup and scored on his Irish League debut. He then joined Manchester City as a trainee in 1987. He made one first team appearance during his time in Manchester, a league match on 30th April 1988 away against Birmingham City, before signing for Crewe Alexandra on a free transfer in August 1990. Lennon made his debut for Crewe on 18th September 1990 against Reading. Despite missing the whole of season 1991-92 due to a back injury, he became an established member of the side and impressed with his intelligent play and consistent performances. Lennon's form saw win make his debut for Northern Ireland in 1994, and thus became the first Crewe Alexandra player in 60 years to win a full international cap. In 5½ years at Crewe, Lennon made 187 appearances for the club and scored 18 goals.
In February 1996, Lennon signed for Leicester City for a fee of £750,000. In May 1996, Lennon played in the Leicester City side that defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 at Wembley in the Play-off Final to win promotion to the English Premiership. On 16th April 1997, Lennnon picked up his first major winner's medal when Leicester won 1-0 against Middlesbrough in a replayed League Cup Final. He played in a further two League Cup Finals during his time at Filbert Street, losing 0-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in March 1999 but winning 2-1 against Tranmere Rovers in February 2000.
An on-field incident during a league match in 1998 against Newcastle United between Lennon and Alan Shearer resuted in the England international being charged with misconduct by the FA. Television footage showed Shearer appearing to intentionally kick Lennon in the head following a challenge. The referee of the game took no action against Shearer. Shearer apologised afterwards, but denied that the contact with Lennon was deliberate, and Lennon later gave evidence in Shearer's defence at the FA hearing which subsequently cleared the Newcastle and England striker of all charges.
After Martin O'Neill became the new manager of Celtic in June 2000, he made several attempts to sign Lennon. Finally after months of protracted negotiations with Leicester City, on 6th December 2000, Lennon joined the club he supported as boy for a fee of £5.75 million. That season saw Lennon pick-up three winner's medals as Celtic swept to a domestic treble, winning the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The next four seasons at Celtic saw Lennon win a further two league championships and two Scottish Cups. He was also an integral part of the Celtic side that reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2003, losing 2-3 to Porto after extra time.
When Gordon Strachan took over from Martin O'Neill as Celtic manager in the summer of 2005, he made Lennon Celtic captain. In January 2006 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 Scottish Premier League title. Lennon picked up his fourth League Championship medal that season on 5th April 2006 when Celtic defeated Hearts 1-0 at Parkhead.
Although he was also linked with a move to Crystal Palace in a player-manager role in the summer of 2006, on 23rd 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 25th April 2007, Lennon announced he would be leaving Celtic, and in his last game for the club on 26th May 2007, he captained the team to victory in the Scottish Cup Final against Dunfermline Athletic. Celtic's 1–0 win clinched the League and Cup Double.
Lennon joined Nottingham Forest on a one-year contract with an option for a second year on 12th June 2007. He made his debut captaining the side in a 0–0 draw at home to Bournemouth. He missed a week's training with Forest in November 2007, because of family reasons in Scotland, and lost his place in the team as a consequence.
Lennon joined Wycombe Wanderers on 31st January 2008, leaving on 3rd April to take up a coaching role with Celtic.
Lennon made his international debut for Northern Ireland on 11th June 1994 when he come on as a substitute in a friendly against Mexico in Miami. He had to wait nearly a year for his next cap when he played against Chile in another friendly. Lennon made his first competitive appearance three months later on 3rd September 1995 in a European Championship qualifier away against Portugal. After that, Lennon became a fixture in the international side although Northern Ireland were unsuccessful in their attempts to qualify for the finals of major tournaments.
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. The threat was allegedly made by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, although the organisation later denied this.
Lennon was capped 40 times by Northern Ireland, scoring two goals. He also captained the team on several occasions.
Lennon was linked with the vacant manager's job at Hibernian after the resignation of John Collins, but the job was given to Mixu Paatelainen. Lennon's first coaching appointment was as first team coach with Celtic in 2008. After the appointment of Tony Mowbray as Celtic manager, Lennon took charge of the Celtic reserve team.
Following Mowbray's departure from Celtic on 25th March 2010, Lennon was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. He appointed former team-mate Johan Mjällby as his assistant. Celtic won all of their remaining league games under Lennon, including wins over Kilmarnock, Hibernian, and Rangers, but lost 2–0 to First Division side Ross County in the Scottish Cup.
Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic on a full-time basis on 9th June 2010. On 28th July, in his first competitive game as full-time manager, Celtic lost 3–0 away to Braga in the UEFA Champions League. In the 2010–11 season, Lennon was given a six match touchline ban for excessive misconduct, which was later reduced to four matches after appeal. He was given another four match touchline ban by the SFA following an altercation with Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist after a Scottish Cup match in March 2011.
Lennon led Celtic to the final of the League Cup in March 2011, but they lost 2–1 to Rangers after extra time. They remained in contention for the SPL title until the final day of the 2010–11 season, when they won 4–0 at home to Motherwell, but finished a point behind Rangers. He won his first silverware as a manager when Celtic beat Motherwell 3–0 in the Scottish Cup Final a week later.
After rallying from a poor start to season 2011-12, Lennon won the SPL Manager of the Month award for November 2011. The club went on to win the 2011–12 Scottish Premier League and Lennon was made SFWA Manager of the Year. Lennon then guided Celtic through two qualification rounds to reach the group stage of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, where Celtic beat Barcelona one day after the club's 125th birthday. On 21st April 2013, Celtic retained the Premier League title. Lennon finished the season by leading Celtic to a League and Cup double with a 3–0 win over Hibernian in the Scottish Cup Final.
Celtic qualified for the Group Stages of the Champions League again the following season, but had a dismal campaign; winning only once with a 2–1 home win over Ajax, and slumping to a 6–1 rout away against Barcelona in the final group match. They fared little better in the domestic cup competitions; losing 0–1 to Morton in their first game in the Scottish League Cup, and losing 1–2 to Aberdeen in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. The League campaign was much more impressive through; undefeated until February and losing only twice in all over the course of the season in which they scored 102 goals on the way to their third successive League title.
On 22nd May 2014, Lennon announced that he was leaving Celtic after four years as manager. "I have parted company with Celtic," he said in a brief statement, adding "The club are in a very strong position and I wish the fans and the club all the very best for the future."
Lennon was announced as the new manager of Bolton Wanderers on 12th October 2014, signing a four year contract.
Lennon has spoken about having suffered from depression since 2000.
In September 2008, Lennon was assaulted whilst in the West End of Glasgow. His attackers were subsequently charged, convicted and jailed for two years each on 16 January 2009.
In January 2011, Lennon reached an out of court settlement with the Bank of Ireland after a company of which he was a director defaulted on a 3.7 million Euro loan.
In January 2011, the Royal Mail intercepted packages containing bullets addressed to Lennon and Celtic and Northern Ireland players Niall McGinn and Paddy McCourt. In March 2011, a suspect package addressed to him was discovered in a mail depot in Saltcoats.
In March 2011, Lennon and two high-profile fans of Celtic were sent parcel bombs. The device sent to Lennon was intercepted by the Royal Mail at a depot in Kirkintilloch, Scotland whilst the two other devices were delivered, but treated as suspicious packages and were not opened. (See HM Advocate v Muirhead and McKenzie.)
In response to the death threats, First Minister Alex Salmond condemned those that "use football as a pretext for their pathetic and dangerous prejudices" and UEFA President Michel Platini said he would fight violence and sectarianism. Former Celtic Director Dr. Michael Kelly described the bombs and bullets as terrorism. After these threats, Lennon was subsequently put under 24-hour protection.
On 31st August 2011, a Hearts supporter was found guilty of a breach of the peace, after running into the technical area of the football pitch, and shouting and swearing at Lennon, during a match against Celtic in Edinburgh on 11th May 2011. A further charge of assault, aggravated by religious and racial prejudice, during the same incident, was found not proven. The media and many observers disapproved of the jury's verdict, mainly because of the admission of assault from the accused, as well as the evidence presented. The supporter was given an eight-month prison sentence
During his playing career he represented Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic, where he made over 200 appearances and was appointed captain, in 2000. Before retiring as a player, he returned to England to represent Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers. Lennon made 40 appearances for Northern Ireland in nine years, scoring two goals.
Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic in March 2010, initially in a caretaker capacity after the departure of Tony Mowbray. Lennon enjoyed significant success as Celtic manager, winning three Scottish league championships, two Scottish Cups and qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League twice, before leaving the club in May 2014.
Lennon was born in Lurgan, County Armagh and attended St Michael's Grammar School in the town. As a youngster he played gaelic football for the school and was also selected for the Armagh minor team. He grew up supporting Celtic and played football for the local Lurgan Celtic youth team.
Lennon joined Glenavon, after reaching the final of the Milk Cup and scored on his Irish League debut. He then joined Manchester City as a trainee in 1987. He made one first team appearance during his time in Manchester, a league match on 30th April 1988 away against Birmingham City, before signing for Crewe Alexandra on a free transfer in August 1990. Lennon made his debut for Crewe on 18th September 1990 against Reading. Despite missing the whole of season 1991-92 due to a back injury, he became an established member of the side and impressed with his intelligent play and consistent performances. Lennon's form saw win make his debut for Northern Ireland in 1994, and thus became the first Crewe Alexandra player in 60 years to win a full international cap. In 5½ years at Crewe, Lennon made 187 appearances for the club and scored 18 goals.
In February 1996, Lennon signed for Leicester City for a fee of £750,000. In May 1996, Lennon played in the Leicester City side that defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 at Wembley in the Play-off Final to win promotion to the English Premiership. On 16th April 1997, Lennnon picked up his first major winner's medal when Leicester won 1-0 against Middlesbrough in a replayed League Cup Final. He played in a further two League Cup Finals during his time at Filbert Street, losing 0-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in March 1999 but winning 2-1 against Tranmere Rovers in February 2000.
An on-field incident during a league match in 1998 against Newcastle United between Lennon and Alan Shearer resuted in the England international being charged with misconduct by the FA. Television footage showed Shearer appearing to intentionally kick Lennon in the head following a challenge. The referee of the game took no action against Shearer. Shearer apologised afterwards, but denied that the contact with Lennon was deliberate, and Lennon later gave evidence in Shearer's defence at the FA hearing which subsequently cleared the Newcastle and England striker of all charges.
After Martin O'Neill became the new manager of Celtic in June 2000, he made several attempts to sign Lennon. Finally after months of protracted negotiations with Leicester City, on 6th December 2000, Lennon joined the club he supported as boy for a fee of £5.75 million. That season saw Lennon pick-up three winner's medals as Celtic swept to a domestic treble, winning the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The next four seasons at Celtic saw Lennon win a further two league championships and two Scottish Cups. He was also an integral part of the Celtic side that reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2003, losing 2-3 to Porto after extra time.
When Gordon Strachan took over from Martin O'Neill as Celtic manager in the summer of 2005, he made Lennon Celtic captain. In January 2006 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 Scottish Premier League title. Lennon picked up his fourth League Championship medal that season on 5th April 2006 when Celtic defeated Hearts 1-0 at Parkhead.
Although he was also linked with a move to Crystal Palace in a player-manager role in the summer of 2006, on 23rd 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 25th April 2007, Lennon announced he would be leaving Celtic, and in his last game for the club on 26th May 2007, he captained the team to victory in the Scottish Cup Final against Dunfermline Athletic. Celtic's 1–0 win clinched the League and Cup Double.
Lennon joined Nottingham Forest on a one-year contract with an option for a second year on 12th June 2007. He made his debut captaining the side in a 0–0 draw at home to Bournemouth. He missed a week's training with Forest in November 2007, because of family reasons in Scotland, and lost his place in the team as a consequence.
Lennon joined Wycombe Wanderers on 31st January 2008, leaving on 3rd April to take up a coaching role with Celtic.
Lennon made his international debut for Northern Ireland on 11th June 1994 when he come on as a substitute in a friendly against Mexico in Miami. He had to wait nearly a year for his next cap when he played against Chile in another friendly. Lennon made his first competitive appearance three months later on 3rd September 1995 in a European Championship qualifier away against Portugal. After that, Lennon became a fixture in the international side although Northern Ireland were unsuccessful in their attempts to qualify for the finals of major tournaments.
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. The threat was allegedly made by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, although the organisation later denied this.
Lennon was capped 40 times by Northern Ireland, scoring two goals. He also captained the team on several occasions.
Lennon was linked with the vacant manager's job at Hibernian after the resignation of John Collins, but the job was given to Mixu Paatelainen. Lennon's first coaching appointment was as first team coach with Celtic in 2008. After the appointment of Tony Mowbray as Celtic manager, Lennon took charge of the Celtic reserve team.
Following Mowbray's departure from Celtic on 25th March 2010, Lennon was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. He appointed former team-mate Johan Mjällby as his assistant. Celtic won all of their remaining league games under Lennon, including wins over Kilmarnock, Hibernian, and Rangers, but lost 2–0 to First Division side Ross County in the Scottish Cup.
Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic on a full-time basis on 9th June 2010. On 28th July, in his first competitive game as full-time manager, Celtic lost 3–0 away to Braga in the UEFA Champions League. In the 2010–11 season, Lennon was given a six match touchline ban for excessive misconduct, which was later reduced to four matches after appeal. He was given another four match touchline ban by the SFA following an altercation with Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist after a Scottish Cup match in March 2011.
Lennon led Celtic to the final of the League Cup in March 2011, but they lost 2–1 to Rangers after extra time. They remained in contention for the SPL title until the final day of the 2010–11 season, when they won 4–0 at home to Motherwell, but finished a point behind Rangers. He won his first silverware as a manager when Celtic beat Motherwell 3–0 in the Scottish Cup Final a week later.
After rallying from a poor start to season 2011-12, Lennon won the SPL Manager of the Month award for November 2011. The club went on to win the 2011–12 Scottish Premier League and Lennon was made SFWA Manager of the Year. Lennon then guided Celtic through two qualification rounds to reach the group stage of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, where Celtic beat Barcelona one day after the club's 125th birthday. On 21st April 2013, Celtic retained the Premier League title. Lennon finished the season by leading Celtic to a League and Cup double with a 3–0 win over Hibernian in the Scottish Cup Final.
Celtic qualified for the Group Stages of the Champions League again the following season, but had a dismal campaign; winning only once with a 2–1 home win over Ajax, and slumping to a 6–1 rout away against Barcelona in the final group match. They fared little better in the domestic cup competitions; losing 0–1 to Morton in their first game in the Scottish League Cup, and losing 1–2 to Aberdeen in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. The League campaign was much more impressive through; undefeated until February and losing only twice in all over the course of the season in which they scored 102 goals on the way to their third successive League title.
On 22nd May 2014, Lennon announced that he was leaving Celtic after four years as manager. "I have parted company with Celtic," he said in a brief statement, adding "The club are in a very strong position and I wish the fans and the club all the very best for the future."
Lennon was announced as the new manager of Bolton Wanderers on 12th October 2014, signing a four year contract.
Lennon has spoken about having suffered from depression since 2000.
In September 2008, Lennon was assaulted whilst in the West End of Glasgow. His attackers were subsequently charged, convicted and jailed for two years each on 16 January 2009.
In January 2011, Lennon reached an out of court settlement with the Bank of Ireland after a company of which he was a director defaulted on a 3.7 million Euro loan.
In January 2011, the Royal Mail intercepted packages containing bullets addressed to Lennon and Celtic and Northern Ireland players Niall McGinn and Paddy McCourt. In March 2011, a suspect package addressed to him was discovered in a mail depot in Saltcoats.
In March 2011, Lennon and two high-profile fans of Celtic were sent parcel bombs. The device sent to Lennon was intercepted by the Royal Mail at a depot in Kirkintilloch, Scotland whilst the two other devices were delivered, but treated as suspicious packages and were not opened. (See HM Advocate v Muirhead and McKenzie.)
In response to the death threats, First Minister Alex Salmond condemned those that "use football as a pretext for their pathetic and dangerous prejudices" and UEFA President Michel Platini said he would fight violence and sectarianism. Former Celtic Director Dr. Michael Kelly described the bombs and bullets as terrorism. After these threats, Lennon was subsequently put under 24-hour protection.
On 31st August 2011, a Hearts supporter was found guilty of a breach of the peace, after running into the technical area of the football pitch, and shouting and swearing at Lennon, during a match against Celtic in Edinburgh on 11th May 2011. A further charge of assault, aggravated by religious and racial prejudice, during the same incident, was found not proven. The media and many observers disapproved of the jury's verdict, mainly because of the admission of assault from the accused, as well as the evidence presented. The supporter was given an eight-month prison sentence
