Captain of Celtic and midfield enforcer for Northern Ireland, Neil Lennon is one of the most controversial figures in British football. His story is an extraordinary tale of religious bigotry, life-threatening career injury, tumultuous football success at club level, and of the remarkable events that led him to turn his back on his country.
The first Northern Irish Roman Catholic to play for Celtic and to be chosen to captain his country, Lennon was forced to sensationally quit the captaincy even before he took the field following death threats by Loyalist paramilitaries.
In Scotland, he has been the target of vicious verbal and physical assault by fans of Old Firm rivals Rangers – mugged on the street, hung in effigy, and with the words ‘Neil Lennon RIP’ painted on a wall near his family home. Now he will give his side of these stories, revealing in full the terrible consequences of the religious hatred that has tainted his career.
Lennon will write of his Leicester years under Martin O’Neill, and how the Midlands club defied bigger rivals by maintaining their Premiership League status and winning two League cups. He will also tell the inside story of Celtic under O’Neill; how his £5 million transfer to Parkhead nearly didn’t happen; his wrongful arrest on a club night out; lifting the domestic treble in a glorious first season with Celtic and the continued revival of the club to the point where they reached the UEFA Cup final (narrowly losing out to a Jose Mourinho-inspired Porto); and his relationship with current boss Gordon Strachan and the team’s fluctuating fortunes in 2005/06.
As he approaches the twilight of his playing career, Lennon has decided the time is right to reveal all about his life on the field – including his horrific spinal injury and his less than happy apprenticeships at Motherwell and Manchester City – as well as his hitherto closely guarded private life. It’s a book that will shock football to its core.
