Hearts fan attack on Neil lennon Hearts V Celtic

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Neil Lennon Tynecastle attack trial: Celtic manager tells of moment he was struck on the head
Celtic FC manager Neil Lennon was in court today to give witness.
He was giving evidence in the trial of John Wilson, 26, of Edinburgh, who is accused of attacking him at the Hearts-Celtic match at Tynecastle Stadium on May 11.
Mr Lennon described the fixture as "a muscling game".
Neil Lennon said "It was a huge game in the context of the season, with ourselves and Rangers going for the title."
Mr Lennon said Hearts-Celtic games are "more raucous than usual" but that this particular game "had a bit more of an edge to it" with a lot of abuse coming from the stands.
He added: "It was just the usual abuse that you would get - or that I would get - at the majority of the away games. Some of it is personal, some of it isn't."
Mr Lennon then described how he had just finished celebrating Celtic's second goal and ran to the touchline to give instructions to his players when he was attacked.
He added: "I felt a contact to the corner of my head and then saw a body sort of sprawled out in front of me - and it was then I realised that he had tried to get to me.
"It felt like a glancing blow to the corner of my head," he added, pointing towards his left eyebrow.
"It all happened very quickly and I sort of went into a defence position, crouching to avoid contact with whoever it was that was attacking me.
"He was off balance and ended up lying in front of me."
Mr Lennon identified Wilson, who was sitting in the dock, as his attacker.
He added: "I tried to prevent him from getting up again. He was trying to defend himself.
"There was a steward, the fourth official, and (Celtic coach) Alan Thompson who had all sort of gathered around him and I got pulled back.
"I was going to go for him, because I wasn't sure what he had in his hand.
"I knew I had been attacked so it was a split-second self-defence mechanism.
"He could have had something. I didn't know but he could have been carrying something."
Mr Lennon said he did nothing to provoke the incident, other than "doing my job".
He added: "If you would call doing my job inciting violence, then I was just doing my job."
Mr Lennon said immediately after the attack, he called his assailant "a f***ing idiot".
However, he said he did not hear his assailant say anything as it was a noisy atmosphere and he was pulled away quickly.
Neil Lennon described the atmosphere in the ground after the match as "very tense between both sets of supporters and quite intimidating".
Mr Lennon said the incident left him "angry after all the stuff that had happened to me previously".
He added: "Whether that had anything to do with it, I don't know, but I couldn't do my job properly.
"It took the gloss off the team's performance and I knew the headlines would be about me again, rather than the team, and that really disappointed me."
When asked to clarify what had happened to him previously, he added: "Packages have been sent in the past. A 24-hour armed guard outside my house. Police protection. My house has been refitted with new security alarms and systems and all that sort of thing.
"I was sent viable devices in the post. I was sent bullets in the post.
"Basically, this was the tipping point for me. I just felt that was the last straw, really.
"I'm a football manager at the end of the day and this sort of thing has got nothing to do with football in my eyes.
"It brought a lot of embarrassment to Hearts and brought a lot of embarrassment to football in general."
He added: "In all of the other instances I was well briefed by police and the authorities, and was kept well abreast, but this came out of the blue.
"If it hadn't been for the intervention of Alan Thompson my personal safety could have been put at risk."
Wilson stands accused of lunging at Mr Lennon and seizing him around the neck, aggravated by religious prejudice.
He also stands accused of running on to the field of play during a designated sporting event, running at the away team dugout, shouting, swearing, making a sectarian remark, and thereby causing a breach of the peace.
Wilson's defence counsel David Nicolson said that he does not dispute the allegation that his client charged at Mr Lennon but takes issue with the alleged remarks that have been attributed to him.
He said: "I don't dispute the actions that happened that night - that a gentleman jumped over the fence and came towards the dugout area.
"I'm not disputing that Mr Wilson was shouting and swearing and that he charged at Neil Lennon.
"It was really what was said that is in dispute rather than what happened."
Mr Thompson later told told the court how he apprehended Mr Lennon's assailant by grabbing him by his clothing and causing him to lose his footing.
Mr Thompson confirmed that he witnessed the incident from start to finish, and stood "no more than an arm's length" from Wilson as he helped to restrain him, but did not hear any remarks.
However, he did say he had heard shouting coming from the stands, and some "inappropriate songs" coming from his own team's away supporters.
The court also heard earlier from James Church, assistant head of safety, security and operations at Celtic, who said he was too far away from the incident to hear any remarks.
Mr Church also told how his calls for extra security in the first half of the game, before the alleged attack, went unheeded.
He said: "I would have liked another two or three stewards and perhaps another police officer. I was getting quite concerned."
He told how he made his concerns known to the control room, where the Hearts safety officer and police sit, and when asked whether his concerns were listened to, he said: "Well, nobody arrived."
The case before Sheriff Reith continues. Wilson denies the charges.

Celtic beating the wee buns and they don't like it.
Hearts fan allowed to run onto pitch to attack Neil Lennon.
Celtic leading 2-0, let's have more goals against these British loyalists neds.
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Great Block by Neil Lennon against a cowardly attacker coming on the blind side. Looks to me like he has been shown some good simple first defense moves. Any martial arts expert would have been proud of his quick movement and ability to block. Neil should not have to put up with this, but he protected himself well and made the coward look pathetic.
Should not happen, but this is Scotland the land of the anti Irish.

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Neil Lennon was attacked by a fan at Tynecastle as Celtic kept their Scottish Premier League title hopes alive with a 3-0 win over Hearts. - a supporter came out the main Hearts stand to attempt a cowardly attack on Neil Lennon the Celtic boss.
The coward was pushed to the ground and eventually marched up the tunnel by police.

This attack follow the increase in tensions stoked up by the Scottish media and the BBC misreporting Neil Lennon.
Before the match on sky Neil McCann tonight repeated and implied what Neil Lennon had gone out of his way earlier in the day to categorically deny.
As the two teams lined up in the tunnel and the Billy boys could be heard, the sky commentator remarked on the stadium atmosphere, completely oblivious or ignoring the illegal sectarian chanting of the Hearts fans.
What do you expect it is Scotland.
Blame a Irishman
What did Neil Lennon say that we can twist , will be the trash medias response soon enough.
BBC are so rooted in British imperialism and anti Irish they would not even understand the complaint.

Update to Hearts fan attack on Neil lennon Hearts V Celtic
In response to incident involving Celtic manager Neil Lennon at Tynecastle last night, Heart of Midlothian issue lifelong ban to a fan

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Hearts fan attack on Neil lennon Hearts V Celtic

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