Rudi Vata

 ( 1969 Births ) 

Rudi Vata (born 13 February 1969) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a defender, and had also a short stint as a manager of Albanian team KF Vllaznia Shkodër.

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Club career

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Early life Vata was born in the northern city of Shkodër and joined local side Vllaznia Shkodër at a young age, making his first team debut in 1988. Whilst travelling with the Albania national football team in France he sought political asylum in 1991.

Vata's career in Western world football began in France in 1991, when the KS Dinamo Tirana player claimed political asylum following an international match. He played for Le Mans and Tours FC, before playing for Celtic between January 1993 and 1995–96. He became the first Albanian to win an honour in a major European country when he won the 1995 Scottish FA Cup with Celtic.

Vata went on to play for Apollon Limassol (1996–1998), Energie Cottbus (1998–2001), Rot-Weiß Ahlen (January–June 2002) and SK Tirana (2002–2003). This was followed by a spell in Japan, after which he signed for St Johnstone in 2004. He retired from football in 2005 after a brief stint with KF Partizani Tirana.

Since retiring from the professional game, Vata has become a sports agent, specialising in football, and facilitating the transfer of players such as Garry O'Connor and Aiden McGeady.

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International career He made his debut for Albania in a May 1990 European Championship qualification match away against Iceland and earned a total of 59 caps, scoring 5 goals. His final international was a 1 September 2001 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Finland.

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Personal life Vata is married to Anne Frances from Wishaw, Lanarkshire in Scotland, whom he met during his time playing at Celtic. They have two sons together, Ruan and Rocco Vata, both of whom were born in Scotland. They live in Hamilton, Scotland. Interview: Rudi Vata on his journey from Albania to Celtic - Scotsman

Rudi Vata is also known for speaking in the third person.

Rocco plays for English EFL Championship club Watford and received his first Ireland senior call up in March 2025.

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Career statistics

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Club

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Vllaznia Shkodër	1988–89	Superliga
	1989–90
Dinamo Tirana	1990–91	Superliga	0
Le Mans	1991–92	Division 2
Tours FC	1991–92	Division 2
Dinamo Tirana	1992–93	Superliga
Celtic	1992–93	Premier Division	2
	1993–94		1
	1994–95		1
	1995–96		0
Apollon Limassol	1996–97	First Division	4
	1997–98		5
Energie Cottbus	1998–99	2. Bundesliga	0
	1999–2000		1
	2000–01	Bundesliga	1
	2001–02		0
LR Ahlen	2001–02	2. Bundesliga	0
SK Tirana	2002–03	Superliga	4
Yokohama FC	2003	J2 League	3
St Johnstone	2003–04	First Division	0

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International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
Albania	0
	0
	0
	0
	0
	1
	0
	1
	0
	1
	2
	0

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Honours Dinamo Tirana

• Albanian Superliga: 1990 Albania - Championship Winning Teams - RSSSF

Celtic

• Scottish Cup: 1994–95

KF Tirana

• Albanian Superliga: 2003
• Albanian Supercup: 2002 Albanian Supercup 2002 RSSSF. Retrieved 3 April 2020.

Albania

• Malta International Tournament: 2000 Rothmans Tournament 2000 (Malta) RSSSF. Retrieved 3 April 2020.

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External links

• Vata at Celtic FC - Football-Heroes.net

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