Robbie Neilson

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.