From Swindon, to Bradford and back up to Scotland, Raffaele De Vita's career got even better.
Upon his contract expiring at Swindon, De Vita found himself trying to find himself a new club and was granted a trial at West Yorkshire club Bradford City: "It was pretty relaxed, I think the manager knew me and wanted to see what my fitness was like so I just went up for a couple of days and I never left because on the first day I did a fitness test and the fitness coach saw that I was fit enough to be involved in a friendly and we played Guiseley.
"I came on and I scored and had done quite well when feeling fit and then I flew to Ireland with them and signed as soon as we got back. I think after a couple of days I knew that they were keen on me signing so I didn't feel like I had to go through a week or two where I had to impress the manager because I was feeling good I was buzzing and I realised straight away how big the club was and I couldn't wait to sign."
Whilst his first goal for the Bantams may have come in a friendly against local side Guiseley, his first competitive goal came against now-Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers in front of a crowd of 18,000 people: "I've said it before I think Bradford are a special club especially for that league they are a unique club, to get that amount of people every second week is unbelievable. When I told my family and mates back home they just couldn't believe it, we were in League One and at the same level in Italy you would never have that many, if you were to get two or three thousand you were lucky.
"So for one of my first games for the club against Sheffield United, obviously a big derby, I think if I'm not wrong there must've been 22-23 thousand in the stadium and for me it was like a Champions League game you know with the atmosphere it was unbelievable. And I thought it was probably just because of the derby but it carried on every game.
"Obviously Bradford were coming on from a big year after getting to the final of the League Cup so there was a lot of momentum at the club and the atmosphere was brilliant, even in that game against Wolves which was my first full debut maybe, well one of the first games I played in from the start, the atmosphere was unbelievable. They had so many fans, the stadium was completely packed and it was a great experience."
Back in 2013 when De Vita was at Valley Parade he witnessed the growth of teenage talent Oliver McBurnie, who has gone on to feature for the likes of Swansea City and Sheffield United in the Premier League: "He was still in the youth but was still starting to get involved in the training and stuff but you could tell there was something special about him. The thing that stood out about him most was his confidence, he was 16 or 17 years old and usually when you get kids coming up into the first team they are quite shy and don't come out of their shell but he was very confident. Sometimes you might come across as arrogant but he just loved football and wanted to learn and play as much as possible and wasn't phased by training with the likes of Nahki Wells and James Hanson, but rather treated it as if it was like football in the park with his mates. I'd lie to you if I knew straight away that he would've been playing in one of the best league's in the world but I knew he was going to have a career in football he just had raw talent and obviously nobody expected him to do what he did at Swansea in such a short period of time but he did unbelievable and after that you knew he was onto bigger and better things."
Sadly due to injuries De Vita's career in West Yorkshire came to an end and he found himself at Cheltenham Town on a three month contract, but as nothing solidified he turned down Cheltenham and Livingston to join Scottish Premiership team Ross County: "Initially I just felt as if I wanted to play as much as possible because obviously when you move in January it's a bit worrying because you haven't got a lot of time to get a new club so I was a bit worried but I just wanted to have another club no matter the level.
"I had the chance to go back to Livingston but I did want to play as high a level and preferably stay in England, but obviously when Ross County took an interest I thought that even though Inverness is miles away, like it's the end of the world and takes you ages to get there it was a big decision but once I saw the club and the people around the club it was a no-brainer as it was a brilliant club.
"Because it's so far away from everything else it means that everyone's so close to each other and it's a proper family, a bit like Bradford but obviously smaller, as the people look after each other because we were so isolated from the rest of the country obviously and the UK. But for me it was a big league and we didn't want to get relegated so I wanted to play some games and get a move back down to England but it turned out to be a great spell, especially as it lasted six months when I was offered a contract for next season."
On his debut for the Staggies, De Vita scored the winning goal in a 3-2 masterclass over Scottish giants Motherwell: "That game was unbelievable, but with football you have to be lucky sometimes. Obviously I signed and I couldn't get registered for the first game when we played at Aberdeen and I went and was on the bench as I had signed just two days before and never played but we lost 4-0 and were battered for ninety minutes so the week after he changed the whole team and after that Motherwell game it was the same team for the rest of the season.
"But I always think what would have happened if we had beaten Aberdeen 2-0 you know, I might have never got a chance so I needed a bit of luck going into the Motherwell game and set up two and scored the winner so we started winning games and I got Player of the Month so we just flipped. Sometimes you can't explain it but we got a bit of luck and sometimes you just need to be there to take the opportunity."
Following his stint at County, De Vita opted to return to former club Livingston to perhaps pick up on unfinished business: "I think obviously when I signed the first time a group of Italian businessmen were owning the club and it was a bit of a shambles, at times even though I enjoyed it and shared a good relationship with them, the future was really uncertain and there were a lot of problems in the background, so when I went back it was completely different, a completely different club, a lot of people went so I didn't really know too many people at the club, I knew maybe a couple of people in the kitchen or the groundsmen and stuff but I didn't really know anyone else.
"But it was really good and from the first moment there felt like there was really good vibe at the club and it was probably one of the best changing rooms I've ever been involved in and that changing room stayed up from League One to the SPL, and in Scotland if you look at the standards of the squad in League One and then look at the SPL squads it is a massive gap so it was really special. The same group of lads went from League One to the Championship and got promoted again to the SPL and the first season in the SPL they've managed to stay up comfortably which doesn't happen very often so credit to the manager and the people in the background who have managed to get so many good players who are now playing at a very high level. So yes, it was brilliant to go back."
One thing De Vita, Livingston and Bradford have in common is former manager David Hopkin, who successfully gained promotion with Livi to the SPL before deciding to change his surroundings and takeover the sinking ship that was City, which unfortunately did not work out: "Yes we were the same with Hopkin, but I don't know it worked for us but not with the type of players Bradford have, I'm not sure I've not had the chance to watch many games of him when he was down there but with us it just worked personally. Obviously we were branded as a bit of a, well not a bad team to watch, but a very direct team to play against because sometimes he was a bit harsh on us because obviously we didn't keep the ball and make two many passes but once the ball was played up to the striker from there we played our football.
"We had a lot of good players that could play football and a lot of people recognised that as soon as we had a throwing we would just throw the ball into the box but that was working so I'd understand why people expect us to change it. But obviously I don't know why that never worked at Bradford and the fans got frustrated but I think he needs the players as well because if you have small technical players he can't do that but we had the big striker up top and three very physical defenders so for us it was brilliant. People seem to think we were the team that just throw the ball long but when things are going well and you're winning every game you've got nothing to complain about.
"We were shocked obviously as he had taken us so far and we'd have thought he'd wanted the chance to manage us in the SPL, but he must've had his personal reasons to want to leave the club but I think he knew that he had done enough to deserve a chance at a higher level and obviously when Bradford comes and shows an interest it is hard to turn it down. But for us obviously it was a bit tough, but it was made easier by the fact that the rest of the staff were still there, and the assistant manager who was a big part of the club before Hopkin came in and the main faces at the club were still there.
"And the manager, well Kenny Miller took over the club for a few weeks, but then after that the manager came in and managed to fit straight away what the rest of the staff were doing. I think it was a hard transition for the club but I haven't played there this season, but they are 5th in the league before it was stopped so it's obvious they carried on doing what they were doing and weren't affected by the change of manager."
The reason De Vita wasn't at the club in this season's top flight challenge is because he has spent the season in two halves; the first at struggling Scottish Championship side Partick Thistle and the second at title challenging Scottish League One Falkirk: "Two very different spells. Thistle was difficult, I went from Livingston where everything was going well, people at the club were buzzing and you could see you were in a good environment and then you go to Thistle where everyone is frustrated because the club's not playing at the level that they should and the fans don't really like the manager they're not winning games, it was probably one of the hardest experiences in my life, when you go into a club and you don't feel like the mood or atmosphere is there and you're not looking forward to training, which is probably the worst thing.
"At every club I've been at I can't wait to get into the club on a morning but there it was just a hard environment, it's the same for every club when things aren't going well, the problems start between players and the background. It was still a good group of lads who were doing their best but it just never clicked and got worse and worse and eventually the new manager, Ian McCall, wanted to bring his own people in and I was on loan so I went back to Livingston for a day and then went to Falkirk.
"It was completely different, a club that was doing well at the time and winning every game, again a really good group of lads who were really tight with each other but they shouldn't be in League One in Scotland, if you see the stadium and facilities it is a club that should easily be in the SPL. But yes, I was really enjoying it and I thought we had a really good chance of getting promoted so it was a shame but all in all, the second spell this season was a lot better than the first."
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