Lennon says he won't play for country again

Glasgow Celtic midfielder Neil Lennon today said he would never play for Northern Ireland again after getting a death threat.

Loyalists insisted that the warning which forced him to pull out of last night’s game against Cyprus in Belfast was bogus, but Lennon said he was announcing his retirement from international soccer.

The Catholic player declared: "It is a shame it has to end this way."

Jim Boyce, president of the Irish Football Association and team manager Sammy McIlroy had earlier urged the player to stay on.

Lennon’s family in Lurgan, County Armagh, had also been threatened.

His future with the team had been in doubt for the past 18 months when he was booed by a small section of the Northern Ireland supporters at Windsor Park.

But just a few hours before he was due to captain the side in last night’s friendly, police told there had been a threat against him.

Sources close to the Loyalist Volunteer Force, which allegedly issued the warning, insisted that the threat was bogus.