Neil Lennon: bigots didn’t chase me out

Neil Lennon last night insisted he hasn’t been chased out of Scotland by bigots.

The Northern Irishman called an end to his eventful four-year spell as Celtic manager last week.

Lennon was the victim of a catalogue of sectarian attacks throughout his time at the club.

He was also the intended recipient of bombs and bullets through the post, had missiles thrown at him by Aberdeen supporters and was assaulted by a Hearts fan at Tynecastle.

But he insists his decision to quit Scottish football after 14 turbulent years at the top was for footballing reasons rather than the shameful off-the-field events that plagued him.

Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Post, the now former Celtic manager says his departure had nothing to do with taking himself and his family out of the firing line.

“That’s not true,” said Lennon. “That’s got nothing to do with my decision to leave my position as manager of Celtic. I’ve left for footballing reasons.

“I’ve made that quite clear and it’s something I gave a lot of thought to, as you would expect me to, when making such an important decision.

“Of course, you have to take everything else into consideration. When you are manager of Celtic your personal life isn’t your own.

“But my son doesn’t know anything other than Glasgow and Celtic. And as it stands I’m not moving away from Glasgow.

“My family are very settled in Glasgow and until I’m fortunate enough to be offered a job and accept a post then we will continue to be based there.

“The life of a footballer and football manager is you move where the work is and I’m no different to the any of my counterparts.”

The 42-year-old from Lurgan, County Armagh, helped guide Celtic to five titles and the UEFA Cup Final in 2003, before taking over the manager’s job in 2010.

Soon after signing for his boyhood heroes, death threats forced him to withdraw from a Northern Ireland squad for a friendly against Cyprus in 2002. He responded by calling time on his international career.

A year later he was attacked by two students, who were later fined for breach of the peace, in Glasgow’s West End.

In 2008 he required hospital treatment after being assaulted by two men after an Old Firm match.

Jeffrey Carrigan, 43, and David Whitelaw, 47, both of the city’s Knightswood, were jailed for two years for the “vicious, brutal and cowardly” attack.

And in January 2011 a package containing bullets addressed to Lennon was intercepted at a sorting office in County Antrim

Three months later he was placed under 24-hour security when another package was intercepted at an Ayrshire sorting office.

Lennon’s home was turned into a fortress to protect him, his partner, and their son.

Just weeks later, Hearts supporter John Wilson attacked Lennon in the technical area at Tynecastle and was later jailed for eight months.

The following year two Ayrshire men were jailed for five years each for sending parcel bombs to Lennon and others with links to Celtic.

The most recent ugly incident came in February when Lennon had missiles thrown at him by Aberdeen fans at Tynecastle as he watched their League Cup semi-final win.

Despite the abuse, Lennon pledged to live as normal a life as possible.

He insists the real reason for his decision to leave only weeks after leading Celtic to the Premiership title was that he wanted to bow out on a high.

He said: “It’s important not to be selfish. Maybe if it was another job where I didn’t feel the same connection as I did for the Celtic post then I’d possibly have continued until something else came up.

“But it was so important to me to leave Celtic on a positive note. I can’t stress that enough.

“I didn’t want the end to be as a result of me getting the sack or losing face with the supporters because I’ve had such a fantastic connection with them since I first signed for the club as a player back in 2000.

“And it just feels right. I’ve been over in Portugal for the last few days with the Lisbon Lions and watched the Champions League final with them last night which I’m glad I was able to do.

“I’m going to enjoy a family break and catch a bit of sun obviously not too much with my completion! Then I’m going to Brazil to for the World Cup and then back to Glasgow unless something else comes up.”