Raffaele De Vita
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Raffaele De Vita (born 23 September 1987) is an Italian professional
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who plays as a
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
for Italian side Anagni. De Vita started his career with
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
, and has also played for
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
,
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...
,
Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...
, Ross County,
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
,
Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
, Edinburgh City, and
Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...
.


Career

Born in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Italy, De Vita grew up supporting
Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
and idolised
Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a Forward (association football), forward. He primari ...
, who later coached him when he joined Swindon Town. De Vita began his career at a boys club in Rome, it has previously been reported as being the Roma academy, which was ironic, due to the fact De Vita supported Roma's rivals, Lazio - De Vita himself set these rumours straight in an interview with The Athletic) until he was scouted by
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
, which he said came "out of nowhere". De Vita began his career with Blackburn Rovers but did not make an appearance for the first team. He joined Scottish club
Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...
in July 2008. At one point, De Vita considered quitting Livingston, as a result of the club entering administration, but continued to play for the club, after
Gary Bollan Gary Bollan (born 24 March 1973) is a Scottish former professional football player and was most recently the assistant coach at Inverness Caledonian Thistle He played for Dundee United (two spells), Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan), St ...
had come in as manager and he had regained his fitness. He made his debut on 14 February 2009 against
St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...
, and the following week scored his first goal against
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
. At the end of the 2010–11 season, during which he helped the club win promotion to the
Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...
, De Vita was among seven players to be released by the club despite becoming a fans' favourite. During his career at Livingston, he made 67 league appearances and scored 22 goals.


Swindon Town

In June 2011, he signed for
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
on a two-year contract. He made his debut on 6 August, in a 3–0 win against
Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...
, ensuring new manager
Paolo di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a Forward (association football), forward. He primari ...
's first competitive game in charge of Swindon ended with a win. He scored his first goal for the club on 24 August, in a 1–0 win against
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
side
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
in the League Cup. He scored his first league goal for the club on 24 September, opening the scoring in a 4–0 win against
Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
. He followed this up with goals against
Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...
,
Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...
,
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...
and
Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...
to finish his debut season with six goals, and helped Swindon to win the League Two title. He made his first appearance of the 2012–13 season on 14 August in a 3–0 win against
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...
in the League Cup. He scored his first goal of the season a week later, with Swindon now in
League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...
, in a 3–0 win against
Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...
. After scoring in a defeat to
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
, he then scored in back-to-back games in October, in a 2–1 defeat to Crewe and a 4–0 victory against
Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...
. In December 2012, he then scored twice in a 2–0 win against
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...
, before scoring again in the following game, a 5–0 win against
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...
. He then scored his final goal of the season on 5 January 2013, in a 4–0 win against
Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...
. He helped Swindon to finish in the play-off positions, and played in the second leg of the semi-final against Brentford F.C., Brentford, which finished 3–3, leaving the tie 4–4 on aggregate, with Brentford then going on to win the penalty shoot-out 5–4. He was then released by the club along with five other players, at the end of the season.


Bradford City

After training with the club for over two weeks, and scoring as a trialist in a 4–0 win in a pre-season game against Guiseley A.F.C., Guiseley De Vita signed for
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...
on a one-year contract on 30 July 2013. He made his debut on 3 August on the opening day of the season in a 2–2 draw against
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
, and assisted Rory McArdle's later equaliser. He scored his first goal for the club on 26 October, opening the scoring in a 2–1 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, De Vita's first team opportunities were soon limited, due to a thigh injury that kept him out for months. After months on the sidelines, De Vita made his first team return on 11 April 2014, coming on as a substitute for Matthew Dolan (footballer), Matthew Dolan in the 77th minute, in a 0–0 draw against Rotherham United F.C., Rotherham United. After making twenty-three appearances and scoring once in all competitions by the end of the 2013–14 season, De Vita's contract with the club expired and he was invited back for pre-season training in the hope of earning a new deal. However, it was made clear that De Vita would not return to Bradford City following the conclusion of the club's pre-season friendly matches.


Cheltenham Town

De Vita joined
Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...
on a three-month contract on 25 September 2014. De Vita made his Cheltenham Town debut two days later, coming on as a substitute for John Marquis in the 83rd minute, in a 1–0 loss against Burton Albion F.C., Burton Albion on 27 September 2014. After making thirteen appearances for the club during the first half of the season, De Vita was released by the club after the expiry of his contract in late-December.


Ross County

On 30 January 2015, De Vita signed for Scottish Premiership club Ross County. On his debut for the club, he scored the winning goal in a 3–2 victory over Motherwell F.C., Motherwell on 14 February 2015. Seven days later he scored again, this time against
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
at Firhill Stadium, Firhill, as the Staggies secured a 3–1 away victory. On 12 April 2015, De Vita was named as List of Scottish Professional Football League monthly award winners#2014–15 season, SPFL Player of the Month for March 2015. With his impressive displays helping Ross County avoid relegation, De Vita signed a new contract in May 2015, keeping him at the club until 2017. He scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season in a Scottish League Cup, League Cup match, as Ross County thrashed
Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
7–0 on 22 September 2015. On 30 June 2016, De Vita was released by Ross County, despite his contract still having a year left.


Livingston return

After being without a club for four months, De Vita signed on for his second spell with Scottish League One side
Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...
in October 2016.


Loans from Livingston

De Vita joined Scottish Championship club Partick Thistle on a season long Loan for the 2019/20 season. De Vita scored his first goal for Thistle in a 3-2 league defeat away to Morton. De Vita scored his second goal for the Jags in a 2–0 win at home to Welsh side Connah Quay Nomands in the Scottish Challenge Cup. Livingston recalled De Vita from his loan spell on New Year's Day 2020. The same day
Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
announced they had signed him on loan until the end of the season; a season which ended early due to the covid-19 pandemic in Scotland, covid-19 pandemic. He was loaned to Edinburgh City in October 2020. De vita was released by Livingston at the end of the 2020-21 season.


Return to Italy

De Vita signed for Anagni in 2022.


Career statistics


Honours

Livingston *Scottish Football League Third Division: 2009–10 in Scottish football, 2009–10 *Scottish Football League Second Division: 2010–11 in Scottish football, 2010–11 *Scottish League One: 2016–17 Scottish League One, 2016–17 Swindon Town *Football League Two: 2011–12 Football League Two, 2011–12 *Football League Trophy runner-up: 2011–12 Football League Trophy, 2011–12 Ross County *Scottish League Cup: 2015–16 Scottish League Cup, 2015–16 Individual *List of Scottish Professional Football League monthly award winners#2014–15 season, SPFL Player of the Month: March 2015


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Vita, Raffaele 1987 births Living people Footballers from Rome Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Scottish Football League players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Swindon Town F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Ross County F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Partick Thistle F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Edinburgh City F.C. players Italian expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century Italian sportsmen