Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980) is a Scottish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who was most recently the head coach of

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

club

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. Neilson, who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, started his senior career with Heart of Midlothian, making 200

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

(SPL) appearances and winning the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

with the club. Earlier on in his career, Neilson was loaned to

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

(SFL) clubs

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

and Queen of the South. After failing to agree a new contract with Hearts, Neilson left and signed for English Championship club

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in 2009. After about a year he was dropped from the Leicester first team, and was loaned to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, and was then given a free transfer in the summer of 2011. Neilson played for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

during the 2011–12 season, and later played for

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

and East Fife. He became Hearts' head coach in 2014, winning the 2014–15

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

title in his first season. Neilson moved to

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

during the 2016–17 season, leaving by mutual consent in January 2018. He was appointed manager of Dundee United in October 2018, and guided them to promotion in the curtailed 2019–20 season. He then returned to Hearts, leading them to the 2020–21 Scottish Championship title as champions.

Club career

Hearts

Born in Paisley,

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

. Neilson was originally attached to

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, through their Boys Club system. He joined Hearts'

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

aged 16. Neilson won the

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual football in Scotland, Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,Scott Severin under manager

Peter Houston Peter Houston (born 19 July 1958) is a Scottish football player and manager who is assistant manager of the Scotland under-21 side. Houston played as a striker for Airdrieonians, Livingston United, Albion Rovers, Falkirk, Dumbarton and East ...

in 1998. He had time on loan at

in 1999. In August 2002, Neilson joined

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

club Queen of the South on loan. He helped the club consolidate their

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

status and win the 2002 Scottish Challenge Cup Final after winning 2–0 over

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

. Neilson made 17 appearances for Queens including a man of the match performance at Clyde. He returned to

Tynecastle Stadium Tynecastle Park, also known as Tynecastle Stadium, is a association football, football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian ...

in January 2003. A high point in his career came in 2004 with his match-winning goal in Hearts' 2–1 away win over

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, his first in any competition for the club. He scored his first and only league goal for Hearts in a 3–1 win over Livingston later that season. He played all 120 minutes of the 2006 Scottish Cup Final, which Hearts won on penalties against Gretna. Neilson was awarded a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

by Hearts in 2008. On 4 February 2009, he was given the role of Hearts' captain after the departure of Christophe Berra. Manager Csaba László did not start contract talks with Neilson until the season drew to a close. As a result of the new wage structure at Hearts, Neilson and the club could not reach an agreement for a new contract.

Leicester City

In search of a new challenge, Neilson agreed terms with English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

on 21 May 2009. The next day the club confirmed that he had signed a pre-contractual agreement and would join them in July. Signing a three-year contract, Neilson set his sights on helping the club win promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

Portman Road Portman Road is a association football, football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one E ...

on 15 August, becoming the 1000th player to debut for the club in a competitive match. Neilson finished the season with 19 league games for Leicester. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–3 League Cup win over Macclesfield Town on 10 August 2010.

Loan to Brentford

On 17 February 2011, Neilson joined

on loan for a month, which was extended until the end of the season on 23 March 2011. On 3 April 2011, Neilson started in the Football League Trophy Final playing the full 90 minutes.

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

won the match 1–0. On 27 May 2011, manager

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...

allowed Neilson along with Michael Lamey to speak to other clubs in search of more regular first team opportunities.

Dundee United

After training briefly with

and Burton Albion, Neilson agreed to sign a contract with

on 15 November 2011 until the end of the 2011–12 season. His debut for the

Tannadice Park Tannadice Park, officially known as The CalForth Construction Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Du ...

club was against his former club Hearts on 19 November 2011. Neilson soon became a regular in the first team and manager Peter Houston said he was keen to keep Neilson at the club. At the end of the season, Neilson was offered a new contract, but he turned the offer down and was released by the club.

Falkirk

After his release, Neilson was linked with Scottish First Division side Falkirk. On 6 October 2012, Neilson played as a trialist for Falkirk in a league match against

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

. The game ended in a 2–2 draw and Neilson unfortunately suffered a cheekbone injury during the match. Upon recovering, he played in two further league matches against Raith Rovers and Livingston in November 2012.

East Fife

In September 2013, Neilson joined East Fife as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. He made his debut playing as a trialist on 31 August 2013, against Rangers in a 5–0 defeat.

International career

Neilson was capped 10 times by the Scotland national under-21 team. He won his first and only full

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

in a 2–0

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals tournament took place between August 2006 and November 2007. Fifty teams were divided into seven groups. In a Round-robin tournament, double round-robin system, each team played against each of the others ...

defeat to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

on 11 October 2006.

Coaching career

Hearts

On 31 August 2013, Neilson returned to Hearts as technical director of the Academy while also serving as their development team (under-20s) Head Coach. The side lost the Scottish Youth Cup final to Rangers on penalties in 2014. New club owner Ann Budge promoted Neilson to the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

position, working for director of football

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional association football, football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone. During his playing c ...

in May 2014. Neilson's first official match in charge was a 3–1 home defeat of Annan Athletic in the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2014–15 Scottish Championship The 2014–15 Scottish Championship is the 21st season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football. Heart of Midlothian won the title on 22 March 2015 and secured their return to the Scottish Premiership with a reco ...

with five straight wins, including victories against Rangers and Hibernian. His team remained undefeated for their first 20 leagues matches until a 3–2 home defeat to Falkirk ended their run on 24 January 2015. Neilson won the Championship manager of the month awards for August, October, November and March. Hearts clinched the league championship and promotion to the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

, at the first attempt, on 22 March. They finished the season 21 points ahead of nearest challengers, city rivals Hibernian, and 24 points ahead of third-placed Rangers. Neilson was shortlisted for PFA Scotland Manager of the Year, but lost out to

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

. Hearts finished third in the 2015–16 Scottish Premiership, qualifying for the

2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played between Ajax and ...

. In November 2016, it was reported that Neilson had agreed to move to

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

, subject to a compensation agreement between the clubs.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 2 December 2016, Milton Keynes Dons confirmed that Neilson had been appointed as manager, as well as his assistant manager at Hearts, Stevie Crawford. The club confirmed Neilson would take charge following the club's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

game against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

. In his first league game in charge of Milton Keynes Dons, he recorded a 1–0 home win against

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

. After a run of one win in 11 league games, Neilson left Milton Keynes Dons by mutual consent on 20 January 2018. The team had fallen into 21st place, inside the relegation zone.

Dundee United

Neilson was appointed head coach of

club Dundee United in October 2018 with a contract running until the end of the 2019–20 season. Neilson expressed confidence that he could repeat his achievement at Hearts and lead Dundee United to promotion to the Scottish Premiership. Dundee United's chairman Mike Martin stated that Neilson was the "outstanding candidate" to emerge from "a long list of impressive applications" for the post and expressed delight at his accepting the offer to take up the post. Neilson's first match in charge saw United defeat

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

2–1 at Firhill. At the end of Neilson's first season, United missed out on promotion to the Premiership after losing to St Mirren in the play-off final. He led the side to the

title the following season, which was curtailed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Hearts (second spell)

Neilson returned to Hearts, who had been relegated to the Scottish Championship after the curtailed 2019–20 season, in June 2020. He signed a three-year deal. On 31 October he led them to the

2019–20 Scottish Cup The 2019–20 Scottish Cup was the 135th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament was sponsored by bookmaker William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill in what was the final season of a nine-year partnership ...

Final after 2–1 victory over rivals Hibernian, thus making them finalists for the second consecutive season; the final was lost on penalties to Celtic on 20 December after a 3–3 draw. Neilson's team secured the Championship title with three games remaining on 10 April 2021 after contenders Raith Rovers and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

drew. He was the division's Manager of the Month in December and April. Neilson led Hearts to an opening day victory over Celtic in the 2021-22 Scottish premiership. Hearts would follow this up with a 2–1 away win over St Mirren, their first win at St Mirren Stadium in the league for over a decade. Hearts early season league form would continue with a 2–0 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice on matchday 4 seeing Neilson named Scottish Premiership manager of the month for August. A last gasp equaliser at Ibrox against Rangers would see Hearts stretch their unbeaten run in top flight games to 9 games. Neilson's Hearts were eventually beaten 2–1 away from home by Aberdeen on Saturday 30 October having managed to go unbeaten for the full first round of fixtures for the first time since the 2005–06 season. Neilson would once again lead Hearts to a Scottish Cup Semi-Final against rivals Hibernian for the 2nd time in 3 seasons following a 4–2 win over St Mirren at Tynecastle in the Quarter Finals. Hearts would defeat Hibernian 3–1 at Tynecastle in the final League game before the split, cementing 3rd place in the league. Just 7 days later, Hearts would once again defeat Hibernian 2–1 in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final at Hampden Park for the 2nd time in 18 months, setting up a second Scottish Cup final appearance since Neilson's return, this coupled with their league position guaranteeing a return to European group stage football for the first time since the 2004-05 season, a campaign in which Neilson played. Hearts lost the

Scottish Cup final The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the wo ...

2–0 after extra time. Neilson signed a new three-year contract with Hearts in July 2022. After losing a Europa League playoff to FC Zurich, Hearts entered the group stage of the Conference League. They finished in third place, winning six points from two wins against Latvian side FK Riga. Domestically, in January Hearts were well clear of their rivals for third place after a 3–0 win against Hibernian and a 5–0 win against

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. There was then an 11-point swing against Hearts, and the club sacked Neilson after a 2–0 home defeat by St Mirren meant that Aberdeen leapfrogged them into third place.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

The

announced on 9 November 2023 that Neilson had signed a multi-year contract to become head coach of the

club. A strong start to the 2024 season saw Tampa Bay Rowdies defeat CF Montreal of the MLS 4-1 and go through the first 7 USL games undefeated. Memorable victories over Louisville and Charleston followed as the team showed their attacking profile, creating both the highest shot based xG and highest offensive touches in the opposition penalty area in the league throughout the season. In September 2024, the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton on the Tampa Bay Area forced the club to evacuate the area and play their remaining 10 games of the 2024 season away from home. The team secured a play-off place, progressing to the semi-final, where Charleston Battery defeated them 2-1. On 11 April 2025, only four games into the 2025 season and with the team remaining unable to play in the Tampa Bay Area, Neilson departed as Head Coach of Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Career statistics

Managerial

Honours

Player

Queen of the South *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2002–03 Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2005–06 Brentford *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

runner-up:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Manager

Heart of Midlothian *

: 2014–15; 2020–21 Dundee United *

: 2019–20 Individual *Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month: November 2016, August 2021, January 2023 *Scottish Championship Manager of the Month: August 2014, October 2014, November 2014, March 2015, August 2019, November 2019, December 2019, December 2020, April 2021

References

External links

*
Robbie Neilson
at Londonhearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Robbie 1980 births Living people Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scottish football managers Heart of Midlothian F.C. managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Milton Keynes Dons F.C. managers English Football League managers Dundee United F.C. managers Scottish expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Tampa Bay Rowdies coaches USL Championship coaches 21st-century Scottish sportsmen