About Reiss Nelson

Reiss Luke Nelson (born 10 December 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Brentford, on loan from Arsenal.

Born in London, Nelson joined Arsenal's academy when he was nine years old and gradually made his way to the first-team, regularly playing above his age group. He made his Arsenal debut in the 2017 FA Community Shield before leaving the club on loan in search of first-team football. After gaining experience at German side TSG Hoffenheim during the 2018–19 season, he returned to Arsenal where new manager Mikel Arteta used Nelson sparingly due to injury. He then moved to the Netherlands on loan at Feyenoord where he made a positive impact on their season and received more first-team action. Nelson joined Fulham on loan for the duration of the 2024–25 season.

Nelson has represented England with every youth international team since debuting for the under-16's in November 2014. He has played in several youth UEFA European Championships, and he was selected in the 2016 under-17 edition's Team of the Tournament for his performances in England's quarter-final finish.

Nelson was born in Elephant and Castle, South London, England. He is of Jamaican descent through his mother. He grew up in the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth and attended the London Nautical School, which trains young men from Inner London, often with maritime and sporting backgrounds. Nelson played football at the school in conjunction with his training at Arsenal and still acts as a mentor there. He became friends with fellow aspiring footballer Jadon Sancho, who lived nearby, after they played together in youth tournaments; Nelson and Sancho were among many successful footballers from the Borough of Lambeth and South London at the time, including Tammy Abraham, Ademola Lookman and Tashan Oakley-Boothe. Nelson has described his younger self as a "cheeky chappie" and someone who was "very loud", which he said often led him into trouble. Nelson accredits his mother for his success at youth level, for ensuring he got to training on time and working two jobs to sustain Nelson, his brother and his sister in their youth; he came from a poor family and driving to and from training was often a "big sacrifice".

Nelson was first picked to represent England in November 2014, when the under-16 coach Steve Cooper selected Nelson to be a part of his 18-man squad to play Scotland on 20 November. He subsequently made his youth international debut starting the match which England won 2–1. Nelson was included in Cooper's squad for the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, and he helped England reach the quarter-finals where they were knocked out by Spain; Nelson was named in the Team of the Tournament for his performances with England. During the under-19's 2018 UEFA European championship qualification campaign, Nelson scored twice against Hungary in March 2018. Despite England qualifying for the tournament, he was one of a number of players withdrawn from selection for the tournament by their club. On his under-21 debut against Andorra, he scored the sixth goal in England's 7–0 win at the Proact Stadium; the win sealed the team's qualification for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. During the tournament, Nelson made only one appearance, a 3–3 draw against Croatia in the group stage; he scored England's first goal from a penalty, but it was not enough for England to qualify for the knockout stage.