Saluting Greatness and Guts- Neil Francis Lennon. Part One- The Player

So after Scotland got duly beaten at Wembley I was tempted to do a review on the performances of the Celtic players but decided against this. Don’t worry, they all got pass marks even though I only watched the second half :-).

I noted that the often unjustly reviled James McLean notched the winner for Martin O’Neill’s team in Austria and that got me thinking about another young man who was, I think, under appreciated by us as a support when he played and latterly became public enemy number one in Scotland in scenes that displayed a very uncultured and quite racist country. That pains me to type that, and whilst I was in Scotland to see most of his career with us I followed his managerial career from Australia.

Let’s start with the player. I first became aware of Neil when he was part of a very combative Leicester midfield with Muzzy Izzet and Robbie Savage. That team punched above their weight and that trio were a combination of aggression and football playing ability. That this team were lauded was down to the managerial genius of one Martin O’Neill and his ability to knit that team together with fantastic results including two trophies.

When Martin came to rekindle the Celtic fire in June 2000 there was a bit of speculation on who he might bring from that overachieving Leicester side.Martin had signed Neil for Leicester and it was no surprise when he signed him again in December 2000. The catalyst that sealed this signing was Celtic’s heavy loss to the old Rangers at Ibrox on 26 November. Neil was signed ten days later with Martin reportedly stating that if we were not going to lose heavily like that again we would need Lenny.

What I did not appreciate was that Neil dropped money to come to us. Here is a quote from the Leicester manager, Peter Taylor the day after Neil signed for us:

The 29-year-old has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract and Peter Taylor, the Leicester manager, said: “I tried to talk Neil out of it. But he said he just had to play for Celtic and in that sense we’ve just been a bit unlucky in that it was Celtic who were the club who came in for him. He’s taking a big drop in his wages to go there, and that should show how genuine he is about the matter.”

Neil slotted into the midfield and immediately became a figure of hate to every team we played against. Was this because of the way he played the game or was it because of something more sinister in that here was a high profile Lurgan lad who was not taking second prize from anyone? You be the ref!

With Neil in the team beside Paul Lambert Celtic were solid and they gave the team an excellent base from which to launch so many attacks to a very potent strike force indeed.The league was duly won and over the next few years we witnessed a mini golden age with extended runs in Europe, including the UEFA cup Final in Seville and domestic honours. Throughout this time Neil’s job was to win possession and play simple passes to more creative players.A job he did with ruthless efficiency.

Whilst playing for Celtic Neil announced his  retirement from the northern Irish national team in August 2002 after receiving a death threat. Was this because he was a poor player or a bhoy from Lurgan playing for Celtic? You be the ref!

Neil simply said at the time; “It’s a shame it has to end this way.” I struggle to comment on what that must have been like for a player with 40 caps but who was threatened because he played for Celtic

Throughout his time as a Celtic player I came to value Neil’s contribution and importance to the team. Martin did too and it was no surprise to see him produce a moment of solidarity and defiance after one game at Ibrox when Neil had been subjected to non- stop vitriol and abuse for ninety minutes. At the conclusion of the game Martin made for Neil and with his arm around his shoulder marched him towards the Celtic fans in the Broomloan.

Defiance!

 

I have two vivid memories of Neil as player- one very public and one very private.

The public moment I remember most was when the old Rangers signed Alex Rae and there was a fair bit of talk about who was harder…(think Joey Barton versus Broony for the noughties).In the first game at Celtic Park after about four minutes the old Rangers new enforcer came toe to toe with Lenny in a genuine 50/50.Rae went in with a block sidefooted tackle, Neil with the ball of his foot and as they kicked through the ball simultaneously Rae’s leg was bent backwards and Lenny departed the scene with the ball. To his credit Rae soldiered on but Lenny had won the battle and Celtic won the game in that first tackle.

My private moment came when we took our oldest bhoy to the Number 7 restaurant for his tenth birthday in January 2005, our last season before we came to Australia. Celtic had been away at Pittodrie for an early kick off and as we arrived at Celtic Park the team bus arrived back at the same time.It was a scabby, rainy January evening and we approached the bus asking if players would have a photo with the group of kids we had with us.Several players scurried past, I couldn’t blame them- it was cold and wet and it had been a long day. On seeing the group of kids  requesting photos Neil took the time out to have his picture taken with a group of very excited children.

Out came the camera and disaster , it wasn’t working. Not a worry said Neil as he chatted to the kids. Out came a second camera and lo and fecking behold, it wasn’t working either. Awkward or what? Mrs Stayinguplate scrambled about her bag and fished out some batteries for the camera. I was apologising profusely to Neil who could at that point have made his excuses and left. Instead he pulled on a beanie and said not a problem and that these are the guys who pay his wages. We managed to get a camera operational and Neil then posed for photos before going home. What a mhan. What a memory for the wheans!

Neil left the club in 2007 having played over two hundred games and scoring three goals. He battled depression, naked bigotry and threats but that was nothing, the worst was yet to come.

Neil was not the most skilful player ever to wear the Hoops but he wore them with a pride and a swagger that meant he was not sitting at the back of the bus for anyone and his role , whilst unglamorous was essential in a very successful team.He showed guts and in my opinion deserves the mantle of a Celtic great for what he had to put up with and overcome. Overcome he did.