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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.


Club career

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 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 , 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 (1996–1998), Energie Cottbus (1998–2001), Rot-Weiß Ahlen (January–June 2002) and (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 , specialising in football, and facilitating the transfer of players such as Garry O'Connor and .


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.


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 , 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 club Watford and received his first Ireland senior call up in March 2025.


Career statistics

Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Vllaznia Shkodër1988–89Superliga
1989–90
Dinamo Tirana1990–91Superliga0
Le Mans1991–92Division 2
1991–92Division 2
Dinamo Tirana1992–93Superliga
Celtic1992–93Premier Division2
1993–941
1994–951
1995–960
1996–97First Division4
1997–985
Energie Cottbus1998–992. Bundesliga0
1999–20001
2000–011
2001–020
LR Ahlen2001–022. Bundesliga0
2002–03Superliga4
2003J2 League3
St Johnstone2003–04First Division0


International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
Albania0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
2
0


Honours
Dinamo Tirana

Celtic

KF Tirana

Albania


External links

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