Danny Lennon facts for kids
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Joseph Lennon | ||
| Date of birth | 6 April 1969 | ||
| Place of birth | Whitburn, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | 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 | 330 | (29) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995–1998 | Northern Ireland B | 4 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2008–2010 | Cowdenbeath | ||
| 2010–2014 | St Mirren | ||
| 2015 | Scotland U21 (caretaker) | ||
| 2015 | Alloa Athletic | ||
| 2016 | Airdrieonians (acting) | ||
| 2017–2022 | Clyde | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Daniel Joseph Lennon, born on April 6, 1969, is a Scottish football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager for the Scottish League One club Clyde.
Danny Lennon is well-known for playing with Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle. He even played international football for the Northern Ireland B team while at Raith.
He started his coaching career with Cowdenbeath, where he finished his playing days. After doing well there, he became the manager of St Mirren in 2010. He led St Mirren to win the 2012–13 Scottish League Cup in 2013. After leaving St Mirren in 2014, he briefly coached the Scotland under-21s and then managed Alloa Athletic in 2015.
In November 2017, Danny Lennon became the manager of Clyde. Under his leadership, Clyde earned a promotion back to Scottish League One in 2019. He left Clyde in October 2022.
Contents
Danny Lennon's Playing Career
Playing for Clubs
Danny Lennon started his football journey at Hibernian. In 1993, he joined Raith Rovers for £30,000. He was part of the Raith team that won the Scottish League Cup in 1994, but he couldn't play in the final due to an injury.
Because they won the League Cup, Raith Rovers got to play in the UEFA Cup. Danny Lennon scored a goal against Bayern Munich in Munich, briefly putting Raith ahead. Twenty years later, he was honored and added to the Raith Rovers Hall of Fame.
After leaving Raith in 1999, he played for several other clubs. These included Ayr United, Ross County, Partick Thistle, Gretna, Workington, and Cowdenbeath.
On November 18, 2011, Danny Lennon was also added to the Partick Thistle Hall of Fame. He was recognized for leading the club to two promotions in a row as captain.
In 2019, 11 years after he last played professionally, Lennon briefly returned to the field. He played for Clyde in a Glasgow Cup match against Celtic's youth team.
Playing for His Country
While playing for Raith Rovers, Danny Lennon played four times for the Northern Ireland B squad. He was able to play for Northern Ireland because his grandmother was from there.
Danny Lennon's Coaching Career
Coaching Cowdenbeath
Danny Lennon became the manager of Cowdenbeath in 2008. He took over from Brian Welsh. Even though the club had money problems, Lennon successfully led them to two promotions in a row.
Coaching St Mirren
On June 7, 2010, Lennon was named manager of St Mirren, a team in the Scottish Premier League. He signed a two-year contract. His first win for St Mirren was a 1–0 victory against Hibernian. St Mirren finished the season in 11th place, avoiding relegation.
Over the summer, Lennon made many changes to the team and coaching staff. He also introduced new ways of playing. He brought in Scottish international players like Gary Teale and Steven Thompson. He also signed Dutch players Nigel Hasselbaink and Jeroen Tesselaar. St Mirren started the next season well, winning the Renfrewshire Cup final and beating Aberdeen. In November 2011, Lennon signed a new contract, keeping him at St Mirren until 2014.
The next season, Lennon guided St Mirren to win their first ever Scottish League Cup. They won 3–2 against Heart of Midlothian in the final. This was the club's first major trophy since 1987.
After the 2013–14 season, St Mirren decided not to offer Lennon a new contract. During his time there, he helped the club reach their highest league position in over 20 years.
In October 2017, Lennon was inducted into St Mirren's Hall of Fame. This showed how important he was to the club.
Coaching Scotland U21 Team
In February 2015, Danny Lennon was appointed as the temporary manager for the Scotland national under-21 football team. He managed one friendly match, which Scotland won 2–1 against Hungary.
Coaching Alloa Athletic
Lennon became the manager of Alloa Athletic in April 2015. He helped the team win the Scottish Championship play-off final. This meant the club stayed in the second tier of Scottish football for the 2014–15 season. However, after a difficult start to the next season, Lennon resigned on December 7, 2015.
Coaching Airdrieonians
In March 2016, the manager of Airdrieonians became unwell. To give him time to recover, Danny Lennon was appointed as the acting head coach. He managed the team until the end of the 2015–16 season.
Coaching Clyde
Danny Lennon returned to management with Scottish League Two club Clyde on November 13, 2017. The team's results quickly got better under his leadership. Clyde moved up from eighth place to finish fifth in the 2017–18 season.
On May 7, 2019, Lennon agreed to stay as Clyde manager for at least two more years. This was later extended until the end of the 2021–22 season.
He led Clyde to promotion to Scottish League One on May 18, 2019. They beat Annan Athletic 2–1 overall in the play-off final. This ended their nine-year stay in the lowest league. For this achievement, Lennon received the SPFL League Two Manager of the Season award.
In their first season back in Scottish League One, Clyde finished seventh in the 2019–20 season. This season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 8, 2022, Lennon signed a new two-year contract with Clyde, set to last until May 2024.
However, on October 25, 2022, the club announced that Lennon had left his role. This happened during a period where the team had not won in nine matches. A week later, on October 31, the club officially announced his departure.
At the time he left, Danny Lennon was the longest-serving manager for Clyde in 30 years.
Managerial Statistics
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Cowdenbeath | 11 June 2008 | 7 June 2010 | 91 | 41 | 26 | 24 | 45.05 |
| St Mirren | 7 June 2010 | 12 May 2014 | 180 | 50 | 56 | 74 | 27.78 |
| Scotland U21 (caretaker) | 18 February 2015 | 7 April 2015 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Alloa Athletic | 7 April 2015 | 7 December 2015 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 22.22 |
| Airdrieonians (acting) | 10 March 2016 | 4 May 2016 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 37.50 |
| Clyde | 13 November 2017 | 25 October 2022 | 199 | 79 | 33 | 87 | 39.70 |
| Total | 504 | 180 | 122 | 202 | 35.71 | ||
- Danny Lennon's role as Alloa Athletic manager officially started on April 9, 2015. The match on April 8 against Heart of Midlothian was managed by caretaker manager Paddy Connolly.
Honours and Achievements
As a Player
- Raith Rovers
- Scottish First Division promotion: 1994–95
- Partick Thistle
- Scottish First Division promotion: 2001–02
- Scottish Second Division promotion: 2000–01
As a Manager
- Cowdenbeath
- Scottish Second Division promotion: 2009–10
- Scottish Third Division promotion: 2008–09
- St Mirren
- Scottish League Cup: 2012–13
- Renfrewshire Cup: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
- Alloa Athletic
- Scottish Championship play-offs: 2014–15
- Clyde
- Scottish League One play-offs: 2018–19
- North Lanarkshire Cup: 2020–21, 2021–22
Individual Awards
- Third Division Manager of the Month: January 2009
- Second Division Manager of the Month: October 2009, November 2009, March 2010
- SPFL League Two Manager of the Season: 2018–19
- SPFL League Two Manager of the Month: March 2018, November 2018, January 2019, April 2019
