Robbie Neilson

Heart of Midlothian

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.

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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.

Heart of Midlothian

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…

Player

Queen of the South

Scottish Challenge Cup: 2002–03 Heart of Midlothian

Scottish Youth Cup: 1997–98 Scottish Cup: 2005–06 Brentford

Football League Trophy runner-up: 2010–11

Manager

Heart of Midlothian

Scottish Championship: 2014–15; 2020–21 Dundee United

Scottish Championship: 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