Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of USL Championship club Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Earlier on in his career, Neilson was loaned to Scottish Football League (SFL) clubs Cowdenbeath and Queen of the South.

After failing to agree a new contract with Hearts, Neilson left and signed for English Championship club Leicester City in 2009.

Neilson won the Scottish Youth Cup in a Hearts side that included captain Scott Severin under manager Peter Houston in 1998.

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.

[16] Signing a three-year contract,[16] Neilson set his sights on helping the club win promotion to the Premier League.

[21] 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.

[22] After training briefly with Falkirk[23] and Burton Albion, Neilson agreed to sign a contract with Dundee United on 15 November 2011 until the end of the 2011–12 season.

[34] New club owner Ann Budge promoted Neilson to the head coach position, working for director of football Craig Levein in May 2014.

Neilson was shortlisted for PFA Scotland Manager of the Year,[45] but lost out to John Hughes of Inverness CT.[46] Hearts finished third in the 2015–16 Scottish Premiership, qualifying for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.

[51] Neilson was appointed head coach of Scottish Championship club Dundee United in October 2018 with a contract running until the end of the 2019–20 season.

[58] Neilson's team secured the Championship title with three games remaining on 10 April 2021 after contenders Raith Rovers and Dundee drew.

[61] Hearts early season league form would continue with a 2–0 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice on matchday 4[62] seeing Neilson named Scottish Premiership manager of the month for August.

[63] Neilson's Hearts were eventually beaten 2–1 away from home by Aberdeen on Saturday 30 October[64] 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[65] in the Quarter Finals.

[66] Just 7 days later, Hearts would once again defeat Hibernian 2–1 in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final[67] 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.

[68] 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.

[68] The Tampa Bay Rowdies announced on 9 November 2023 that Neilson had signed a multi-year contract to become head coach of the USL Championship club.