Dave Neilson played for Dinmore Bush Rats before and after the war. Having been born in the neighbouring suburb of Riverview, he also played for an Australian-born team against their British-born counterparts in a match in May 1914.
Neilson was a 24-year-old stockman when he enlisted in August 1915 and was assigned to the 9th Battalion. He was one of several local soccer players in the battalion, alongside Alf Perrett, Alf Law, Jimmy Conway and the Pedley brothers Alf and Joe. Neilson was wounded five times during his service. He was shot in the hand July 1916, likely at Pozieres, before receiving a gunshot wound to the head (March 1917), gassed (March 1918), shot in the back (August 1918) and before again being shot in the head (September 1918). Most of these injuries likely happened at the Somme, with the last one ending his war following evacuation to England.
Neilson was finally discharged in Australia in May 1919. A month later and back in Ipswich, Neilson helped Bush Rats secure a 1-0 win against Bundamba Rangers. He continued to play for T’Rats in 1920 and appeared for the AIF team which played the ship Renown the same year, though reports listed his initials as “H. D.” Neilson became a labourer and later a miner in Ipswich for several decades before moving to Brisbane where he died in the mid-1970s.