‘I get called fenian, pauper, beggar.You call it sectarianism. I call it racism.’
HIBS BOSS BREAKS SILENCE ON ABUSE
NEIL LENNON has described the shameful abuse he is subjected to as ‘racism’ and insisted graffiti daubed on a wall near Tynecastle was more sinister than being struck by a coin.
Lennon’s comments come after he was attacked for the second time at the Gorgie Stadium amid disgraceful scenes which marred the Edinburgh derby at the home of fierce rivals Hearts.
Yet the Hibs coach, a Roman Catholic born in Northern Ireland, was more vexed by the words ‘Hang Neil Lennon’ that were painted on a wall near the ground and he is adamant they were motivated by racial hatred.
‘There was graffiti before the game outside Tynecastle, you all know what it said,’ Lennon commented. ‘Do I bring that on myself as the Hibs manager, is there any reason why people would write that?
‘It’s racism. You call it sectarianism here, but I call it racism.
‘I don’t always moan or complain about it but when you’re asking me questions, there is a time now to get the elephant out of the room and really call it what it is.
‘The graffiti is more serious. It’s racism. If a black person is abused, you’re abusing the colour of their skin, their culture and heritage and I get that more or less every week.
‘I get called fenian, pauper, beggar — those types of words.
‘You have to sit on your hands sometimes and take it.
‘But what it tells me about the people who are saying it is they have this outdated sense of entitlement or superiority complex.
‘And because I have the gall to stand up for myself, then I bring it all on myself.’
Lennon, who was attacked by Hearts fan John Wilson on the touchline when he was Celtic manager during a game at Tynecastle in 2011, added: ‘I don’t know if the (coin-throwing) incident was sectarianism motivated or not or just pure badness from a rival supporter.
‘But, to me, the graffiti reeks of sectarianism.
‘Hang (Neil Lennon) — I hear that song at some grounds sometimes referred to me.
‘It’s something the Ku Klux Klan did to black people in the 1960s and it might tell you a bit about the mentality of people who sing those songs or write that graffiti on the wall.’
Asked if the abuse he encounters was getting worse, Lennon replied: ‘No, but that’s twice now at Tynecastle there have been incidents involving myself.
‘The first one was a premeditated attack when I was going about my job and the second one, they think it’s provocation — if they want to call it that — that’s just a lame excuse for it.
‘It ceases to shock you. It has been ongoing now for too long.
‘Hang Neil Lennon written on a wall — what’s that all about? Is it meant to be funny?
‘It infuriates me, it really infuriates me.
‘It’s too easy for people to act that way because they think anything goes in football.
‘People use football as an excuse, a vehicle for religious connotations, personal connotations — but it comes from the home.’
The Hibernian head coach backed his agent, Martin Reilly, who claimed Lennon was routinely targeted for abuse because he was an Irish Catholic who had played for Celtic.
‘That’s the basis of it, has been since 2000 (when Lennon joined Celtic from Leicester ).
‘I’ve been subjected to this for 18 years. I’m 47, I’m fed up of it. I’m the manager of Hibs now and I’m still getting it.
‘There’s a problem. It’s a big problem. And you all turn your back on it, you all laugh about it, and brush it aside. It’s right there.
‘I keep hearing all this “One Scotland”, we are open to everyone...
‘At times it hasn’t been the case to me. I had a career in England unblemished by all this stuff. I had two years at Bolton — no abuse, no attacks, no suspensions. As soon as you come back to Scotland, it rears its ugly head.
‘It’s there right in front of you every week, you hear the songs in stadiums. That’s got to be stamped out but people don’t want to do it.
‘They say ‘there’s 40,000 people in there, there’s 60,000 in that stadium, you can’t do anything about it’. You can, if you really want to.
‘And I’m not the only one to suffer from sectarian abuse. There are plenty of Rangers players who suffer it and I think it’s disgusting in this day and age.