Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach of Shenzhen Peng City in the Chinese Super League.
Neilson, who played as a right-back, started his senior career with Heart of Midlothian. After loans to Cowdenbeath and Queen of the South, Neilson became a key player in Hearts' squad; making 200 Scottish Premier League appearances and winning the Scottish Cup in 2006 with the club. After failing to agree a new contract with Hearts, Neilson signed for English Championship club Leicester City in 2009. He was later dropped from the Leicester first team and loaned to Brentford, and was then given a free transfer in the summer of 2011. Neilson played for Dundee United during the 2011–12 season, before finishing his career with Falkirk and East Fife. He won a single cap for Scotland in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Ukraine in October 2006.
Neilson returned to Hearts as head coach in 2014, winning the 2014–15 Scottish Championship title in his first season. After two successful seasons at Hearts, he was appointed head coach of Milton Keynes Dons during the 2016–17 season, before 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 another promotion from the Scottish Championship in 2020-21.
Neilson was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, on 19 June 1980. Neilson was originally attached to Rangers, through their Boys Club system. He joined Hearts' youth academy aged 16. Neilson won the Scottish Youth Cup in a Hearts side that included captain Scott Severin under manager Peter Houston in 1998.
He had time on loan at Cowdenbeath in 1999. In August 2002, Neilson joined Dumfries club Queen of the South on loan. He helped the club consolidate their Scottish First Division status and win the 2002 Scottish Challenge Cup Final after winning 2–0 over Brechin City. Neilson made 17 appearances for Queens including a man of the match performance at Clyde. He returned to Tynecastle Stadium 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 in the UEFA Cup, 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 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.
In search of a new challenge, Neilson agreed terms with English Championship club Leicester City 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. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw against Ipswich Town at Portman Road 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.
On 17 February 2011, Neilson joined Brentford 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 won the match 1–0. On 27 May 2011, manager Sven-Göran Eriksson allowed Neilson along with Michael Lamey to speak to other clubs in search of more regular first team opportunities.
After training briefly with Falkirk and Burton Albion, Neilson agreed to sign a contract with Dundee United on 15 November 2011 until the end of the 2011–12 season. His debut for the Tannadice Park 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.
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. 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.
In September 2013, Neilson joined East Fife as player-coach. He made his debut playing as a trialist on 31 August 2013, against Rangers in a 5–0 defeat.
Neilson was capped 10 times by the Scotland national under-21 team. He won his first and only full Scotland cap in a 2–0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying defeat to Ukraine in Kyiv on 11 October 2006.
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 position, working for director of football Craig Levein in May 2014. Neilson's first official match in charge was a 3–1 home defeat of Annan Athletic in the Scottish Challenge Cup on 26 July. Hearts began the 2014–15 Scottish Championship 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, 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 of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Hearts finished third in the 2015–16 Scottish Premiership, qualifying for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. In November 2016, it was reported that Neilson had agreed to move to Football League One club Milton Keynes Dons, subject to a compensation agreement between the clubs.