Lennon, Neil

Club career

The first Lennon club at the highest level was the English Manchester City , which Neal joined in 1989 , signing a contract for a player of the backup team. Having played just one match for the main squad of the “townspeople”, the Northern Irishman moved to the club of the lower divisions of England “ Crew Alexandra ” - here he grew stronger as a football player, and in 1996 Lennon became a player of Leicester City , who paid 750 thousand pounds for a defensive midfielder . Playing for the foxes, Neil won the League Cup in 1997 and 2000 .

In the offseason, the Northern Irishman signed a contract with the Scottish Celtic ^{[2] [3]} , where he quickly became a player in the main squad, and in 2005, Lennon was elected team captain.

After the dismissal of Leicester City head coach Craig Levein, many media outlets suggested that his former player, Neil Lennon, would become the club’s new mentor and, according to rumors, the North Irishman was even offered a contract as the team’s playing coach. But Lennon was adamant, saying that he was very flattered by this proposal, but so far I would like to remain the captain of the "Celts" ^[4] .

In the summer of 2006, rumors appeared that Neil could move to the English Crystal Palace , also as a playing coach ^[5] , but on June 23 of the same year, the Celtic press service announced that the Northern Irishman had signed a new one-year contract with the club . That summer, Neal's former partner in the Scottish club, and at that time the head coach of the English Sunderland , Roy Keane tried to sign Lennon for his team, but the leadership of the “Celts” rejected the offer of “black cats”.

On April 25 of the following year, the Northern Irishman announced that he would leave the Celtic at the end of the season ^[6] . Neal played his last game for the Celts on May 26, 2007 , when he led his team out with a captain's armband for the match of the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline Athletic . “Celtic” won with a minimum score of 1-0, thereby making a “double” this season, winning the Scottish Championship .

In the offseason, Lennon seriously thought about ending his football career. In addition, several clubs in Britain offered him a contract coach. For example, the Scottish “ Hibernian ” from Edinburgh came to the Nile with the goal of signing him as the head coach of the team, after John Collins left this post ^[7] .

However, on June 12, 2007, the Northern Irishman joined the Nottingham Forest English team in the same role as a football player, signing an agreement on the 1 + 1 scheme ^{[8] [9]} .

As the captain of the Foresters, Lennon made his debut in the club's home game against the Bournemouth team, which ended in a goalless draw. However, then Neal lost his place in the Forest, due to his unauthorized weekly absence from Scotland, where, as the North Irishman said, he solved family problems.

On January 31, 2008, Neil moved into the club of the fourth English division, Wycombe Wanderers , which was led by Paul Lambert, a former partner of the Northern Irishman at Celtic ^[10] . However, three months later, on April 3 , Lennon announced the end of his career as a football player and returned to Celtic as a coach.

Northern Ireland Team

For the national team of Northern Ireland, Neil Lennon played 40 matches, scoring 2 goals. He is a former captain of this team.

In August 2002, Neil decided to complete his appearances in the national team, after shortly before the game of his team with Cyprus he received anonymous threats of reprisal. This happened due to the fact that Lennon in an interview announced his dream of playing for the United Ireland team ^{[11] [12]} . The incident was attributed to the conscience of the “ Forces of Loyalist Volunteers ”, but the organization itself denied its involvement ^[13] . This incident was met with deep disgust in all social sectors of Northern Ireland ^[14] .

Soccer Achievements

Team Achievements

  Leicester City

• League Cup Winner (2) : 1996/97, 1999/00
• League Cup Finalist: 1998/99

  Celtic

• Champion of Scotland (4) : 2000/01 , 2001/02 , 2003/04 , 2006/07
• Scottish Cup Winner (3) : 2000/01 , 2003/04 , 2006/07
• League Cup Winner (2) : 2000/01, 2005/06
• Scottish Cup Finalist: 2001/02
• League Cup Finalist: 2002/03
• UEFA Cup Finalist: 2002/03

Personal Achievements

• Scottish Premier League Player of the Month (3) : March 2001, March 2003, April 2007

At the end of the player’s career, Lennon returned to Celtic as an assistant coach, and the Celts press service reported on signing the North Irishman on April 3, 2008 ^[15] . After Tony Mowbray was appointed to the post of head coach of the “white-green” ^[16] , the role of Lennon in the club changed - before the start of the 2009/10 season, Neil became a mentor of the Scots reserve team ^[17] . On March 25, 2010, after Mowbray was dismissed from his post as head coach of the team, Lennon was temporarily appointed to this position until the end of the 2009/10 season ^[18] , with the officially voiced prospect of becoming a permanent coach of the Glazgovites, depending on the results of Celtic under the direction of the Northern Irishman ^[19] .

Neil's debut in his new position turned out to be successful - on March 27 his wards defeated Kilmarnock 3: 1 ^[20] .

The second game under the leadership of Lennon was also a success - thanks to a goal from the penalty spot by Robbie Keene , the Celts outplayed Hibernian 1-0 ^[21] .

On April 10, in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup , Celtic sensationally lost to the club of the First Scottish division Ross County 0: 2 ^[22] . In a post-match interview, Lennon explained the defeat as “the lack of a proper attitude among the players of the Oglugians”.

After this unfortunate failure, the “Celts” tried to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of their fans and issued a series of six victories in a row - “Hibernian”, “ Dundee United ”, twice “ Motherwell ”, the worst enemies of the “white-green” from the “ Rangers ” were defeated ^{[23 ]} and Heart of Midlothian .

On June 8, a contract was signed with Lennon, according to which he became a full-fledged head coach of Celtic ^{[24] [25]} . Neil himself commented on this event:

The start of the new season came out for the “Celts” led by Neil, unsuccessful - on July 28 in the first official match of the season, which was the guest match of the third qualifying round of the Champions League with the Portuguese club “ Braga ”, the “white-green” lost significantly 0: 3, in fact having lost the chances of continuing the fight in the main club tournament in Europe ^[27] . So it happened - despite the victory in the second match with a score of 2: 1, “Celtic” could not go further in the main club tournament in Europe ^[28] . The Celts flew to the Europa League , where the Dutch Utrecht became their rival for reaching the group stage of the draw. In the first match of the confrontation, which took place on August 19 at the Celtic Park stadium, the “white-green” confidently won with a score 2: 0 thanks to goals of Juarez and Samaras ^[29] . In a return match, the “Celts” were unexpectedly defeated by the Dutch 0-4 and thus ended their European campaign in the 2010/11 season ^[30] . In the domestic championship, the Celtic affairs were much better - by the end of September, the Glazgovs won the first six matches of the Premier League and shared first place in the standings with their eternal rivals from the Rangers. For the club’s impressive successes in September, Lennon was awarded the title of “ Coach of the Month for the Scottish Premier League ” ^[31] . On February 8, 2011, a Northern Irish specialist was again awarded this award in January ^[32] . Two months later, Lennon was awarded a similar prize for the third time in his coaching career ^[33] . On May 21, 2011, Neal won his first trophy in the guise of a club mentor - on that day the Celts beat Motherwell in the final meeting of the Scottish Cup 3-0 ^[34] . On June 20, Lennon signed a new one-year cooperation agreement with Celtic ^{[35] [36]} .

In May 2014, Neil left ^{[37] the} post of head coach of Celtic. Specialist agent Martin Riley said about leaving:

Under his leadership, the club won three championships in Scotland ^{[38] [39] [40]} and two Cups of the country ^{[41] [42]} , reached the 1/8 finals of the Champions League ^[43] .

Coaching Statistics

And - games, B - wins, N - draws, P - losses,% wins - percentage of victories

(data corrected as of December 17, 2016)

Seasonal List

• KL = League Cup
• Champions League = UEFA Champions League
• LE = UEFA Europa League

Achievements as a trainer

Team Achievements

  Celtic

• Champion of Scotland : 2011/12 , 2012/13 , 2013/14
• Scottish Cup Winner: 2010/11 , 2012/13
• Finalist of the Scottish League Cup (2) : 2010/11, 2011/12

Personal Achievements

• Coach of the month of the Scottish Premier League (8) : September 2010, January 2011, April 2011, November 2011, December 2011, February 2012, April 2012, December 2012
• Scottish Football Journalist Association Coach of the Year 2012

In September 2008, reports appeared in the press that, after the Old Firm derby , Neil Lennon was the victim of an attack in one of the areas of Glasgow - the West End ^{[44] [45]} . In hot pursuit, the attackers were detained (they turned out to be fans of the Celts' worst enemy, the Rangers) and on January 16, 2009, they were sentenced to two years in prison ^{[46] [47]} .

• Player profile on soccerbase.com
• Coaching statistics at soccerbase.com
• Lennon Interview at uefa.com
• Player profile and coach profile on the Transfermarkt website