Neil Lennon

Early career

Lennon joined Glenavon, after reaching the final of the Milk Cup with Glenavon Select 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 30 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 18 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 him 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 5+1⁄2 years at Crewe, Lennon made 187 appearances for the club and scored 18 goals.

Leicester City

In February 1996, Lennon signed for Leicester City for a fee of £750,000 (£1,500,000 today). 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 Premier League. On 16 April 1997, Lennon 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 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in March 1999 but winning 2–1 against Tranmere Rovers in February 2000. An…

Lennon made his international debut for Northern Ireland on 11 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 3 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.

International stats

International goals

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first

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. Celtic won the Jock Stein Friendship Cup match on penalties in his first match. With no reserve league, the team played a series of friendlies in Ireland against the first teams of Cork City, Drogheda United, Shamrock Rovers, and Cliftonville, losing only once. They played several times in England against Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Chelsea, Huddersfield Town, Newcastle United and Sunderland.

Celtic

Following Mowbray's departure from Celtic on 25 March 2010, Lennon was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. He appointed former teammate 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 semi-final of the Scottish Cup. In the aftermath of that defeat, Lennon spoke frankly about the Celtic players and their performances over the course of the season. He said that they had lacked "hunger and desire" and that whether he was installed as manager or not, he would be recommending a significant clear-out of players to the board.

Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic on a…

Neil Francis Lennon was born on 25 June 1971 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.