Robbie Neilson

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Personal information
Robbie Neilson
Date of birth	June 16, 1980 (age 26)
Place of birth	Paisley, Scotland
Height	5' 8"
Position	Right-back
Club information
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Number	2
Youth clubs
	Rangers
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1996- 1999-2000 2002-2003	Hearts →Cowdenbeath (loan) →Queen of the South (loan)	137 (1) 8 (0) 13 (0)
National team**
2006-	Scotland	1 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:04, 4 December 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2006 (UTC).

Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980, in Paisley) is a Scottish professional football player currently playing as a right-back for Hearts in the Scottish Premier League.

Neilson was originally attached to Rangers, the team he supported, through their Boys Club system, however, he joined Hearts Youth Academy at 16, as he felt it offered him a better chance of eventual first-team football and career progression. With hindsight, his judgment could be viewed as a wise one, for few of his contemporaries have established themselves at Ibrox, where fans' high expectations have witnessed a succession of highly-paid foreign signings preferred to indigenous talent.

Although lacking in both raw pace and intricate footballing skills, Neilson has developed a good positional awareness, which has helped to ensure the Hearts' offside trap is amongst the most effective in the Scottish Premier League. He is also famed for his long throw-in, which can be just as effective as a corner from halfway inside the opponents half.

He has been capped for Scotland U21's and had loan spells at Cowdenbeath (1999-00) and Queen of the South (2002-03) before securing his first-team position at Tynecastle. The pinnacle of his career to date would probably be his match-winning goal in Hearts' 2-1 victory away to FC Basel in the 2004-05 UEFA Cup, remarkably his first in any competition for the club.

He won his first Scotland cap in the 2-0 defeat to Ukraine on October 11, 2006.