{{Short description|Albanian footballer and manager (born 1969)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Rudi Vata | image = | full_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1969|2|13}} | birth_place = Shkodër, Albania | height = 1.83 m | position = Defender | currentclub = | youthyears1 = 1980–1988 | youthclubs1 = Vllaznia | years1 = 1988–1990 | clubs1 = Vllaznia | caps1 = 40 | goals1 = 5 | years2 = 1990–1991 | clubs2 = Dinamo Tirana | caps2 = 20 | goals2 = 2 | years3 = 1991 | clubs3 = Le Mans | caps3 = 18 | goals3 = 0 | years4 = 1992 | clubs4 = Tours | caps4 = | goals4 = | years5 = 1992–1993 | clubs5 = Dinamo Tirana | caps5 = 22 | goals5 = 3 | years6 = 1993–1996 | clubs6 = Celtic | caps6 = 45 | goals6 = 4 | years7 = 1996–1998 | clubs7 = Apollon Limassol | caps7 = 50 | goals7 = 9 | years8 = 1998–2001 | clubs8 = Energie Cottbus | caps8 = 81 | goals8 = 2 | years9 = 2001–2002 | clubs9 = Rot-Weiß Ahlen | caps9 = 10 | goals9 = 0 | years10 = 2002–2003 | clubs10 = Tirana | caps10 = 30 | goals10 = 2 | years11 = 2003 | clubs11 = Yokohama FC | caps11 = 24 | goals11 = 3 | years12 = 2003–2004 | clubs12 = St Johnstone | caps12 = 15 | goals12 = 0 | years13 = 2004–2005 | clubs13 = Partizani | caps13 = 20 | goals13 = 1 | totalcaps = 375 | totalgoals = 31 | nationalyears1 = 1990–2001 | nationalteam1 = Albania | nationalcaps1 = 59 | nationalgoals1 = 5 | manageryears1 = 2011–2012 | managerclubs1 = Vllaznia }}
'''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.<ref name="Times Online">{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article5989535.ece|title=Earrings and beards welcome as Rudi Vata helps Stark's boys|date=28 March 2009|accessdate=7 July 2011|publisher=Times Online|author=Phil Gordan}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
Vata's career in Western football began in France in 1991, when the KS Dinamo Tirana player claimed political asylum following an international match.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Independent|author=Gordon, Phil|title=The Albanian who came in from the cold|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/the-albanian-who-came-in-from-the-cold-688923.html|date=25 March 2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Rudi+Vata|title=TheCelticWiki profile|accessdate=14 December 2023|archive-date=14 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314163052/http://www.thecelticwiki.com/search/everything/Rudi+Vata?contains=Rudi+Vata|url-status=dead}}</ref> He played for Le Mans and Tours, 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=17 April 2021|title=Son of Celtic cult hero Rudi Vata features for U18s|url=https://www.67hailhail.com/news/son-of-celtic-cult-hero-rudi-vata-features-for-u18s/|access-date=11 August 2021|website=67 Hail Hail|language=en-GB}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/6075056.stm|title=Littbarski turns interest to Hibs|date=22 October 2006|access-date=14 December 2023|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
Since retiring from the professional game, Vata has become a sports agent, specialising in Eastern European football, and facilitating the transfer of players such as Garry O'Connor and Aiden McGeady.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/8724659.stm|title=McGeady 'likely to snub Spartak'|date=6 June 2010|access-date=14 December 2023|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
==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.<ref>{{cite web| last1 = Hoxha | first1 = Florent | last2 = Mamrud | first2 = Roberto |title=Albania – Record International Players|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/alba-recintlp.html|date=11 December 2009| website = RSSSF | accessdate = 21 November 2019}}</ref> His final international was a 1 September 2001 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Finland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=21990|title=Player Database|website=eu-football.info|accessdate=21 November 2019}}</ref>
==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, both of whom were born in Scotland. They live in Hamilton, Scotland.<ref>[https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/in-full/interview-rudi-vata-on-his-journey-from-albania-to-celtic-1-4797058 Interview: Rudi Vata on his journey from Albania to Celtic] - Scotsman</ref>
Rudi Vata is also known for speaking in the third person.
Rocco plays for English Championship club Watford and received his first Ireland senior call up in March 2025.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=13 March 2025 |title=Vata and Abankwah receive Republic of Ireland call-ups |url=https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0313/1501883-vata-and-abankwah-receive-republic-of-ireland-call-ups/ |language=en}}</ref>
==Career statistics==
===Club=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>{{NFT player|507|accessdate=}}</ref> |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="3"|Vllaznia Shkodër |1988–89 |rowspan="2"|Superliga ||| |- |1989–90 ||| |- !colspan="2"|Total !!! |- |Dinamo Tirana |1990–91 |Superliga |6||0 |- |Le Mans |1991–92 |Division 2 ||| |- |Tours |1991–92 |Division 2 ||| |- |Dinamo Tirana |1992–93 |Superliga ||| |- |rowspan="5"|Celtic |1992–93 |rowspan="4"|Premier Division |22||2 |- |1993–94 |10||1 |- |1994–95 |7||1 |- |1995–96 |6||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !60!!4 |- |rowspan="3"|Apollon Limassol |1996–97 |rowspan="2"|First Division |25||4 |- |1997–98 |24||5 |- !colspan="2"|Total !49!!9 |- |rowspan="5"|Energie Cottbus |1998–99 |rowspan="2"|2. Bundesliga |25||0 |- |1999–2000 |25||1 |- |2000–01 |rowspan="2"|Bundesliga |30||1 |- |2001–02 |1||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !81!!2 |- |LR Ahlen |2001–02 |2. Bundesliga |8||0 |- |Tirana |2002–03 |Superliga |13||4 |- |Yokohama FC |2003 |J2 League |24||3 |- |St Johnstone |2003–04 |First Division |15||0 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !241!!22 |}
===International=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year |- !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="12"|Albania |1990||1||0 |- |1991||1||0 |- |1992||5||0 |- |1993||6||0 |- |1994||3||0 |- |1995||5||1 |- |1996||4||0 |- |1997||7||1 |- |1998||8||0 |- |1999||8||1 |- |2000||7||2 |- |2001||4||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total!!59!!5 |}
==Honours== '''Dinamo Tirana''' * Albanian Superliga: 1990<ref name = "champions">[https://www.rsssf.org/players/alba-champ-teams.html Albania - Championship Winning Teams] - RSSSF</ref>
'''Celtic''' * Scottish Cup: 1994–95
'''KF Tirana''' * Albanian Superliga: 2003<ref name = "champions"/> * Albanian Supercup: 2002<ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/albasupcuphist.html Albanian Supercup 2002] RSSSF. Retrieved 3 April 2020.</ref>
'''Albania''' * Malta International Tournament: 2000<ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesr/rothmans00.html Rothmans Tournament 2000 (Malta)] RSSSF. Retrieved 3 April 2020.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=7801 Vata at Celtic FC - Football-Heroes.net] * {{NFT player|507}} * {{J.League player}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vata, Rudi}} Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Shkodër Category:Albanian men's footballers Category:Men's association football defenders Category:Albania men's international footballers Category:KF Vllaznia players Category:FC Dinamo City players Category:Le Mans FC players Category:Tours FC players Category:Celtic F.C. players Category:Apollon Limassol FC players Category:FC Energie Cottbus players Category:Rot Weiss Ahlen players Category:KF Tirana players Category:Yokohama FC players Category:St Johnstone F.C. players Category:FK Partizani Tirana players Category:Ligue 2 players Category:Scottish Football League players Category:Cypriot First Division players Category:Bundesliga players Category:2. Bundesliga players Category:J2 League players Category:Albanian expatriate men's footballers Category:Expatriate men's footballers in France Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in France Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Category:Albanian football managers Category:KF Vllaznia managers Category:Kategoria Superiore players Category:Kategoria Superiore managers Category:Association football agents Category:20th-century Albanian sportsmen