Tampa Bay Rowdies name Robbie Neilson as new head coach

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - With a new dawn comes a new day for the Tampa Bay Rowdies. 

Less than three weeks after the team was eliminated in the first round of the USL Playoffs, the club introduced Robbie Neilson as its new head coach on Thursday. 

"Thankfully, I've been relatively successful at all the clubs I've been at, and we've been challenging at the top end for leagues and cups, and I wanted to come somewhere that we had an opportunity to do that." 

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Neilson comes to the Tampa Bay area after having spent the better part of the last three seasons at the helm of Heart of Midlothian FC in Scotland. Now, Neilson will look to bring his brand of soccer to the States. 

"The first thing that's going to take getting used to is calling it soccer all the time. I keep going back to calling it football," Neilson joked. "For me, it will be a change of culture. For me, it will be about adapting and learning." 

Having played 200 matches for the same club, Neilson coached Hearts, as well as Dundee United, to promotion in the Scottish Premiership three separate times. It is that sort of pedigree that has current Rowdies players interested in their new coach. 

"I'm just excited to get to work with him, honestly. I wish preseason started next week to be fair," said 2022 USL MVP Leo Fernandes. 

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While Neilson also said he held offers from clubs back home in Scotland, as well as England, the 43-year-old wanted to take a job where he knew winning a title was a real possibility. 

"That's the way soccer is in America," Neilson said. "For us, we want to be winning titles. It's the same as any club I've been at previously. It's about winning titles, whereas promotion and relegation, it doesn't bother me. It's about winning weekly." 

Meanwhile, the Rowdies are coming off a season in which former head coach Neill Collins left the club mid-season to take the same job at Barnsley FC. The rest of the season would be stewarded by Stuart Dobson and Nicky Law, who will both remain on staff. 

Neilson's arrival, however, does bring a renewed sense of direction for the club. 

"We saw from last year that is was a tough and turbulent year," Fernandes said. "But with [Neilson] under control, I think we'll be back to where we're supposed to be." 

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And that is the next task for the Rowdies' new coach, getting the club back to where it has been in the past. 

"Already you've got a bedrock of a strong team, and now it's just about myself, Nicky and the staff adding bits and bobs to the team to make it a team that wins," said Neilson. 

With their new head coach in place, now the Rowdies begin the process of signing new players as well as re-signing returning ones in the buildup to the 2024 season.