Danny Lennon

Danny Lennon
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-04-06) 6 April 1969
Place of birth Whitburn, Scotland
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1993 Hibernian 37 (2)
1993–1999 Raith Rovers 152 (14)
1999 Ayr United 7 (1)
1999 Ross County 7 (0)
1999–2003 Partick Thistle 98 (12)
2003–2005 Gretna 10 (0)
2006 Workington 0 (0)
2006–2008 Cowdenbeath 18 (0)
Total 329 (29)
National team
1995–1998 Northern Ireland B 4 (0)
Teams managed
2008–2010 Cowdenbeath
2010–2014 St Mirren
2015 Scotland U21 (caretaker)
2015 Alloa Athletic
2016 Airdrieonians (caretaker)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Danny Lennon (born 6 April 1969) is a former football player and manager, who was most recently acting head coach at Airdrieonians.

In his playing career he is best known for his spells at Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle. He also experienced international football with the Northern Ireland B side during his spell at Raith.

Lennon began his managerial career with Cowdenbeath, the club where he ended his playing days. After a successful period with the Fife club, he was appointed St Mirren manager in 2010. He won the 2012–13 Scottish League Cup with St Mirren, but his contract was not renewed when it expired in 2014. After a caretaker spell in charge of the Scotland under-21s, he joined Alloa Athletic in April 2015, however he resigned eight months later after a run of poor results.[1]

Playing career

Club

He began his career at Hibernian, before signing for Raith Rovers for £30,000 in 1993. Lennon was part of the Raith squad that won the Scottish League Cup in 1994, but he missed the Final due to injury. Raith qualified for the UEFA Cup thanks to winning the League Cup. Lennon scored in their tie against Bayern Munich, briefly giving Raith a 1–0 lead in the second leg in the Munich Olympic Stadium.[2]

After leaving Raith in 1999 he played for Ayr United, Ross County, Partick Thistle, Gretna, Workington and Cowdenbeath.

International

During his time at Raith Rovers, Lennon won four caps for Northern Ireland B.[2] Lennon was eligible to play for Northern Ireland through his grandmother.[2]

Coaching career

Cowdenbeath

Lennon was appointed as Cowdenbeath manager in 2008, replacing Brian Welsh.[3] Lennon managed the club to two successive promotions despite the club being in significant financial trouble.[4]

St Mirren

Lennon was appointed manager of Scottish Premier League side St Mirren on 7 June 2010, signing a two-year contract.[5] Lennon picked up his first win for St Mirren with a 1–0 win over Hibernian, courtesy of a goal from Craig Dargo. The Buddies finished the season in 11th place, just managing to avoid relegation.

Over the summer, Lennon decided to make wholesale changes in the playing and backroom staff and also developing a new formation and philosophy. Lennon's signings included Scottish internationals, Gary Teale from Sheffield Wednesday and Steven Thompson from Burnley. He also added Dutch players Nigel Hasselbaink and Jeroen Tesselaar while replacing long term assistant manager Iain Jenkins with a more experienced coach in Tommy Craig. St Mirren started the season in good form, beating local rivals Greenock Morton 4–2 in the Renfrewshire Cup final and beating Aberdeen in the first home game of the new season. Lennon agreed a new contract with St Mirren in November 2011, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2014.[6]

The following season Lennon lead the Buddies to their first ever Scottish League Cup triumph in a 3–2 win over Hearts. It was the club's first major silverware since the Scottish Cup win in 1987,[7] and the fourth major honour in the clubs history.

After the 2013–14 season was completed, St Mirren decided not to offer Lennon a new contract.[8]

In February 2015, Lennon was appointed caretaker manager of the Scotland national under-21 football team.[9] He took charge of one match, a 2–1 victory against Hungary.[10]

Alloa Athletic

Lennon was appointed manager of Alloa Athletic in April 2015.[11] He led the "Wasps" to success in the Scottish Championship play-off final which retained the club's status in the second tier of Scottish football at the end of the 2014/15 season. After gaining just five points from their first sixteen games of the 2015/16 season, Lennon resigned as manager of Alloa Athletic on 7 December 2015.[1]

Airdrieonians

In March 2016, Airdrieonians manager Eddie Wolecki Black suffered a stroke during a match against Scottish League One opponents Cowdenbeath.[12] In order to allow Wolecki Black time to recover from his illness, Lennon was appointed as acting head coach of the North Lanarkshire club until the end of the 2015–16 season.[13]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 30 April 2016.
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Cowdenbeath June 2008 June 2010 143 53 43 47 37.06
St Mirren June 2010 May 2014 179 50 54 75 27.93
Alloa Athletic April 2015 December 2015 28 6 3 19 21.43
Airdrieonians March 2016 May 2016 8 3 2 3 37.50
Total 357 112 102 143 31.37

Honours and Achievements

Player

Raith Rovers
Partick Thistle

Manager

Cowdenbeath
St Mirren
Alloa Athletic

References

  1. 1 2 "Danny Lennon resigns as Alloa Athletic manager". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Danny Lennon, Northern Ireland Footballing Greats.
  3. ↑ "Lennon in charge as Welsh is axed". BBC Sport. 11 June 2008.
  4. ↑ McDaid, David (7 June 2010). "St Mirren invest faith in new manager Danny Lennon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  5. ↑ "Danny Lennon excited by St Mirren challenge". BBC Sport. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  6. ↑ "St Mirren manager Lennon agrees new contract". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Scottish Communities League Cup final: St Mirren 3 Hearts 2". Daily Telegraph. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Danny Lennon: St Mirren decide not to offer manager new contract". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Danny Lennon in temporary charge of Scotland under-21s". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "Scotland Under-21s: Danny Lennon leaves role to join Alloa". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Crawford, Kenny (7 April 2015). "Alloa Athletic appoint Danny Lennon as new manager". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Scottish football sends best wishes to Airdrie boss Eddie Wolecki Black after he suffers stroke during match". The Courier. DC Thomson. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Danny Lennon takes temporary charge at Airdrieonians". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.

External links

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