A CELTIC icon has thanked a Greenock author for helping tell his story of how he escaped the communist regime of Albania to become a cult hero within Scottish football and beyond.
Parkhead favourite Rudi Vata teamed up with Inverclyde native Gerry McDade to put together the book 'Football, Freedom and Paradise! My story by Rudi Vata', in a no-holds-barred account of his extraordinary life.
And he says that Gerry made the process much easier as the duo embarked on a remarkable pilgrimage back to Rudi's childhood home of Shkodër, within the Balkan state, to help strum up a reveal-all account of how football helped him achieve his ultimate dream of freedom.
Speaking to the Tele, Vata said: “To be honest, when I first met Gerry, I’d already had so many people ask me to do something like this.
"I was never sure about who I was going to trust to tell my story and to do a book with.
“I’d been asked by so many people, I was also introduced to a lot of people but the feeling wasn’t quite right.
“When I’d met with Gerry, he convinced me in his way, but for some reason I just got that feeling that he was the right guy.
"He was open and had asked me if we could visit Albania because he wanted to understand deeply, the issues that had impacted my life growing up.
“Gerry’s attitude, his professionalism and everything was top class. It made the process very easy.
“Every time we spoke he’d heard something different and you could see how excited he was every time we met.
"It kept our spirits very high when going through some really difficult times creating the story.
"We developed a really nice relationship and I trusted him completely, my instincts told me to do that.
"I made the right decision, Gerry covered everything for me and I couldn't be happier with the final product."
Gerry couldn't believe some of the stories that Rudi had to tell, including the time he played against France to then later spend the night in a refugee camp - with Eric Cantona's match worn jersey tucked away in a backpack.
But he says it was nothing short of a privilege to be trusted to tell such a tale.
He added: “Privileged, I think is the only word that can sum up how it feels to have been asked to tell Rudi’s story.
“When I’d initially heard of Rudi’s story, I wasn’t to familiar with it but when I did a bit of digging into his background coming from Albania and what he had been through growing up, alongside his passion for freedom, it was very self-evident.
“People may be aware of the stuff that I’ve done in the past with Jackie McNamara and Packie Bonnar, they were proper football books.
“This isn’t just a football book, this is more of an espionage thriller with the way it’s been pieced together because it’s a hell of a story.
“It’s opened up a whole new world of writing for me because I’ve had to go and do a lot of learning about Albania as a country and it’s post-war history. A lot of research has gone into this book.
“But the essence of the story is of a man who was willing to bet anything for a chance of freedom and I’d like to think that that’s what’s come across in the story.
“It’s been a hugely enjoyable journey charting this part of Rudi’s life.”
Football, Freedom and Paradise!: My Story by Rudi Vata is available to purchase on Amazon and from all major bookshops.
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