Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a football coach and former player from Northern Ireland.
|
Lennon at Celtic Park in 2006 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neil Francis Lennon | ||
| Date of birth | 25 June 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1987–1989 | Manchester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1987 | Glenavon | 2 | (1) |
| 1987–1990 | Manchester City | 1 | (0) |
| 1990–1996 | Crewe Alexandra | 147 | (15) |
| 1996–2000 | Leicester City | 170 | (6) |
| 2000–2007 | Celtic | 214 | (3) |
| 2007–2008 | Nottingham Forest | 18 | (0) |
| 2008 | Wycombe Wanderers | 9 | (0) |
| Total | 561 | (25) | |
| International career | |||
| 1990–1994 | Northern Ireland U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 1990 | Northern Ireland U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 1994 | Northern Ireland B | 1 | (0) |
| 1994–2002 | Northern Ireland | 40 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010–2014 | Celtic | ||
| 2014–2016 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| 2016–2019 | Hibernian | ||
| 2019–2021 | Celtic | ||
| 2022 | Omonia | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he made over 200 appearances and was appointed captain in 2005. Before retiring as a player, he returned to England and played for Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers. Lennon also earned 40 caps for the Northern Ireland national team over nine years, scoring two goals.
Lennon was appointed manager of former club Celtic in March 2010, initially in a caretaker capacity, following the departure of Tony Mowbray. Lennon enjoyed significant success as Celtic manager, winning three Scottish league championships, two Scottish Cups, qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League twice and the knockout stages once, before leaving the club in May 2014. After an unsuccessful spell back in England with Bolton Wanderers, marred by the club's financial problems, Lennon returned to Scottish football in 2016 with Hibernian. He led them to promotion back to the Scottish Premiership in his first season as head coach, and European qualification in his second season, before leaving Hibernian in January 2019.
Lennon returned to Celtic in February 2019, initially on an interim basis for the rest of the 2018–19 season, and guided them to the league and Scottish Cup titles. His contract was renewed and he led Celtic to the Scottish league title again in 2019–20. He also led the team to a fourth consecutive domestic treble by also winning the League Cup and the Scottish Cup that season. Lennon left Celtic in February 2021, as the club had fallen far behind Rangers in the 2020–21 Scottish Premiership.
Lennon returned to football a year later, becoming the new manager of Cypriot club Omonia in March 2022. Less than three months after arriving on the island, he led the club to win the Cypriot Cup, their first since 2012. He was sacked in October 2022 due to disappointing results in the domestic league.