{"id":291773,"date":"2023-09-20T07:34:41","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T07:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=291773"},"modified":"2023-09-20T07:34:41","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T07:34:41","slug":"on-this-day-in-2005-neil-lennon-banned-after-barging-referee-in-old-firm-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/soccer\/on-this-day-in-2005-neil-lennon-banned-after-barging-referee-in-old-firm-derby\/","title":{"rendered":"On this day in 2005: Neil Lennon banned after barging referee in Old Firm derby"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Celtic captain Neil Lennon was given a three-match ban by the Scottish Football Association on this day in 2005 for barging into referee Stuart Dougal at the end of his side\u2019s 3-1 defeat to Rangers.<\/p>\n
Lennon had been shown a red card for arguing with the match officials after the final whistle following Celtic\u2019s loss at Ibrox in August, before he pushed aside the assistant referee and then barged into Dougal.<\/p>\n
A Scottish FA disciplinary committee decided on the length of Lennon\u2019s ban after a three-hour hearing, which the Northern Ireland midfielder attended with Celtic boss Gordon Strachan.<\/p>\n
Lennon received an automatic one-game ban for his initial red card and another two-game suspension was added \u201cfor misconduct of a significantly serious nature\u201d.<\/p>\n
Celtic said in a statement after the hearing: \u201cWe are satisfied with the process, today\u2019s outcome and pleased that common sense has prevailed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Strachan had said after the incident that Celtic \u201cwouldn\u2019t be stupid enough to make a fool of ourselves by trying to defend things that are indefensible\u201d, while Lennon publicly apologised for his behaviour.<\/p>\n
Scottish Professional Footballers\u2019 Association assistant secretary Fraser Wishart said Lennon\u2019s previous good behaviour had worked in his favour.<\/p>\n
Wishart said: \u201cNeil wants to put this incident behind him and one of the stressing facts is that he has never been sent off in an SPL fixture or been over the top of the threshold for yellow cards.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis previous record has been taken into consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n