Neilson spent a short but successful loan spell with Grimsby Town in 2012, and then joined Luton on a short-term contract in January 2013 before his release a few months later.
[7] Neilson was a member of Norwich City's youth teams at the age of 11,[8] went on to Charlton Athletic and also won schoolboy honours for Wales.
However, he left Ware before the end of the season to join Cambridge City in March 2008 for the rest of the club's Conference South campaign.
[38] Colbeck was sold three days later and so Neilson made his full debut in a Football League Trophy game with Rochdale.
[40] The club's form did not last and following a run of poor results, manager Stuart McCall left in February 2010 to be replaced by Peter Taylor.
[44][45] He capped his debut for Cambridge United on 6 March 2010 against Barrow by scoring the only goal of the game to give his new side a 1–0 victory.
[46] After scoring another two goals, Cambridge extended Neilson's loan with manager Martin Ling saying he would "assess the situation in the summer".
[47] He played in all 14 of Cambridge's games during his loan spell and scored three goals helping them finish in the top-half of the table before he returned to Bradford at the end of the Conference Premier season.
[48][49] Neilson returned to the first-team squad at City ahead of their 2010–11 season and received praise from his manager, who said: "He's obviously got very good talent, he can get goals and I think he'll do well.
[50] Neilson was substituted at half-time in the club's next game and then dropped for the next league match,[51][52] before he was sold to Conference side Crawley Town for officially an undisclosed five-figure sum,[53] although it was reported to be anywhere from £15,000[54] to £50,000.
[53] Neilson made his debut the following day against Cambridge United, the club where he had spent the latter part of the previous season on loan.
[56] Crawley soon went on a good run of form to go top of the table – Neilson's first goal for the club came in a 2–0 win at home to Kidderminster Harriers at the start of October to extend that lead over AFC Wimbledon to three points.
[57] He followed it up by scoring four goals in the next seven games,[58] including one in the FA Cup on his return to West Yorkshire in a 5–0 win against Guiseley.
[62] Towards the end of his stay at Blundell Park, Grimsby manager Paul Hurst admitted his desire to sign Neilson on a permanent deal following an impressive loan spell.
[43][73] One of his former teammates Lee Bullock said he was "a winger who looks like he's got some decent skills"[73] while Paul Carden, his assistant manager at Cambridge United, said: "You can see he's an intelligent player and very quick ... he catches the eye because he can go past people and is good with the ball at his feet.