Lennon reveals Irish pain

Neil Lennon has revealed how threats and abuse made him quit Northern Ireland.

The former Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City midfielder was forced to end his time in international football with the Ulstermen after receiving threats he would be harmed before Northern Ireland's match with Cyprus in August 2002.

Lennon's decision to join Celtic in a big money move from The Foxes in December 2000 made him unpopular with Northern Ireland's predominantly Protestant support.

In his new autobiography 'Man and Bhoy', the midfielder recalled how the verbal abuse during Northern Ireland's friendly with Norway in February 2001 gave him real cause for concern.

"When I signed for Celtic a few months earlier, I knew it was highly probable that when I turned out for Northern Ireland, I would get stick," Lennon wrote in his autobiography that has been republished in The Guardian.

"But nothing could have prepared me for the sheer scale of what happened before and during that match.

"A few days before the game, my parents at home in Lurgan were appalled to learn that the words 'Neil Lennon RIP' had been scrawled on a wall in the town of Lisburn.

"He, my mother Ursula and the rest of my family were deeply upset by what some moron undoubtedly thought was a sick joke - or maybe in light of subsequent events, he or she meant it as a shot across my bows, a warning of worse to come. Worse, much worse, did come my way.

"From the moment I went on to that pitch to play against Norway, I was the target of an unremitting chorus of boos, jeers, catcalls and insults.

"In a half-empty stadium, the noise seemed to amplify and at times, it seemed as though it was the only sound to be heard. Deep down, it was the sheer scale of things which upset me."

Lennon remembers the deep shock he endured when he was threatened with harm after being named Northern Ireland captain for the Cyprus match.

"I was honoured, and my family were proud and delighted for me," he wrote. "The political situation in Northern Ireland had also changed.

"It was now more than four years on from the Good Friday Agreement, and I thought there was genuine goodwill on all sides. But one man in a phone box many miles away thought differently.

"We were having our pre-match meal when Sammy took me to one side. He told me straightforwardly that there were two police officers from the newly named Police Service of Northern Ireland outside wanting to talk to me.

"I knew immediately what the call was, and my heart sank into my boots. In the run-up to the match, I knew I was 'fair game' for any madman wanting to make a point and I had anticipated someone trying to get publicity for their 'cause', especially after it was announced that I would captain the side. But I had not thought it would go as far as someone threatening my life.

"The police officers were very matter of fact. They said that there had been a telephone call to the BBC's offices in Belfast by someone who claimed to represent the LVF (Loyalist Volunteer Force).

"The threat was that if I played that night, I would get hurt. Without it being needed to be said, we all knew that in all probability 'hurt' meant getting shot.

"I then called my parents. My father said that of course I could not play and he would come and get me. A few minutes later, I was in his car and on my way home. We had a police escort at first, but then some friends met us and we travelled in convoy for the rest of the journey.

"I have not been back to Windsor Park since and Dad still has his unused tickets for the match in which I didn't captain Northern Ireland.

"Before I left the hotel, I told (Northern Ireland manager) Sammy (McIlroy) that I probably would not be returning to play for the national side again. My main thoughts were for my family.

"It was hard enough for them when I joined Celtic, and the graffiti before the Norway game had been an awful experience. So I just could not in all conscience put them through that strain again. And I had my daughter to think of.

"I took a long time to recover fully. I had never made public my political views or religious leanings, but here was I, a footballer, being treated as a public hate figure, simply because I was a Catholic who wore the green and white hoops of Celtic."