Neil Lennon’s Official Blog

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Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971 in Lurgan, County Armagh) is a professional footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the former captain of Celtic F.C.

Released by Manchester City as a 19-year-old after making just one league appearance, Neil Lennon blossomed under the guidance of Dario Gradi in the excellent Crewe Alexandra set-up.

He spent six years with the Railwaymen helping them to two promotions along the way, although nearly retired from the game after suffering a serious back injury. However, he recovered enough to carry on playing, and in 1996 joined Martin O’Neill at Leicester City in a £750,000 deal. He became one of the unsung stars of the Premiership and the flame-haired Ulsterman repeatedly proved he could cope with the jump from the second division to the top flight.

Lennon made his international debut for Northern Ireland in 1994 and went on to captain his country, winning 39 caps and scoring two goals. Unfortunately Lennon hung up his international boots in April 2002, amid threats to his personal safety and on police advice. He had been the target of abuse because of his Catholic background.

Lennon went on to become the chief playmaker in the Foxes midfield with some highly consistent performances. He won the first medals of his career after helping Leicester to lift the League Cup in 1997 and 2000.

He rejoined Martin O’Neill at Celtic in 2000 and has been a key figure in the Hoops’ various silverware acquisitions since. He was made captain and was a central figure in their journey to the 2003 UEFA Cup final, where Celtic were eventually beaten 3-2 by Porto.

The 2004/05 season saw him continue to be integral to Celtic’s success and he remained a rock in midfield, playing a gruelling 49 games throughout their domestic and European campaigns.

2005/6 saw no decline in the captains’ influence as he played 38 games for the Bhoys, scoring 1 goal and eventually leading them to the SPL and to the League Cup. After intense speculation that we would move back to England that year, the 35 year old was convinved by Gordon Strachan to sign a new contract.

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.