Saturday May 26, 2007
The Guardian
I’ll miss pulling on the jersey," says Neil Lennon. “Playing for Celtic was cool. It gave me real status.” The 35-year-old will lead out the Bhoys against Dunfermline today in his 304th and final game for the club he adores. After seven years he feels it is time to return to England, where he played in all four divisions over 14 years with Manchester City, Crewe, then Leicester City. “England is where I lived most of my adult life,” he says. But to many, himself included, he will be forever Celtic.
Lennon is not as grand a Celtic figure as Martin O’Neill or Henrik Larsson but he has become part of the club’s fabric. He has been essential to the power shift from Ibrox to Parkhead and to the reawakening of Celtic’s European ideal.
There have been five titles since he arrived from Leicester and 10 winners’ medals in all, yet in Scotland his name will always convey more than sustained achievement. His Irishness, his red-headedness, his character, have combined with media obsession to transform him into Scottish football’s pantomime demon. He will be afforded a hero’s send-off today from Celtic fans but the message from so many others will be good riddance.
“I would probably be the most instantly recognisable footballer in Scotland,” he says without pride. “In the last couple of years especially, since I’ve been Celtic captain, everything I’ve done has been front- or back-page news.”
His first game as captain was the unforgettable 5-0 defeat to Artmedia Bratislava. It was followed by a 4-4 draw at Motherwell. “Everyone was saying I was the worst since the captain of the Titanic.”
Then, as he says, "there was the sectarian issue. Other players before, such as Anton Rogan, had suffered from it but I was on a far bigger scale when you think of the Northern Ireland issue. I didn’t want to be used as a political pawn but I accept that people look upon me as a symbol of this club and its religious background. I’ve never made my religion public but you don’t need to be a scientist to work it out. But I’ve been here to play football. Other people have made me a celebrity - the media, columnists. I’ve never asked for it but you have to deal with it.
"I’m an aggressive player. I felt Rangers bullied Celtic for a long, long time. We turned it round, we bullied them and a lot of people didn’t like that. When we came in, Celtic had won one league in 11 seasons. Now we’ve five in seven and the two we lost were on the last day.
“I used to be called a thug but we’ve also played in the Champions League and the Uefa Cup final and in that time I’ve had three red cards. It’s not exactly Vinnie Jones. So you wonder where this reputation comes from. People said I was booed at every away ground because of my aggressive nature, but that was rubbish. I got booed as soon as I touched the ball, even before I’d made a tackle. To me that was sectarian, especially at places like Ibrox and Tynecastle. The press weren’t big enough to come out and admit that. People made excuses, said, ‘He’s a cocky, arrogant so-and-so.’ Well, I am and I make no apologies for that. That’s the way you have to present yourself on the pitch. I can’t let people get the better of me. I’m paid by this club to win games. I’m doing my job but I still get criticised for it.”
Lennon has also been attacked verbally, and physically, on the streets of Glasgow. The last time was a fortnight ago. “I was walking down Byers Road and a car went past: ‘Lennon, you fucking Fenian wanker.’ I’ve never done it before but I said that if the car stopped at the lights I’d go over. The lights turned red. I banged on the window and said, ‘You’re not at a football ground now. I’m walking through the town with my wee boy and my girlfriend. You don’t have the licence to say that to me and if you do it again I’ll batter ye.’ There was a pub on the corner with a beer garden and lots of people in it. They all just started clapping. The thing was, I was wearing a pink jumper. They may have been clapping the jumper. That was the first time I’ve done that. I’m leaving.”
For all that, Lennon will miss Glasgow. He could have gone after the Windsor Park death threat that ended his Northern Ireland career, on 39 caps, five years ago. That changed his life but not his residence.
“There are a lot of good things about playing up here. And I love the club, so why should I give it up? Just because of others? Celtic was like a refuge to me, coming into training every day. Sometimes I’d feel really uncomfortable in the car, people seeing you, making gestures, but as soon as I got here it was like a sanctuary, especially when it was all at fever pitch.”
The political change in Ireland will not be persuading him to return to the international fold. “It’s over.” So too, after today, is Celtic. “It’s been intense, very intense. I’m not saying I want a rest from the intensity, but it’s time for something else.”
