| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1969-03-15)15 March 1969 (age 56) | ||
| Place of birth | Cagliari, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back,right-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1986 | Cagliari | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1993 | Cagliari | 128 | (0) |
| 1987–1988 | → Fersulcis (loan) | 26 | (2) |
| 1993–1994 | Internazionale | 4 | (0) |
| 1994 | Roma | 21 | (1) |
| 1994–1997 | Internazionale | 62 | (3) |
| 1997–2002 | Middlesbrough | 136 | (10) |
| 2002–2003 | Portsmouth | 27 | (1) |
| 2003–2004 | Cagliari | 26 | (2) |
| 2004–2007 | Nuorese | 79 | (6) |
| 2007–2008 | Tavolara | 15 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Sanluri | 31 | (1) |
| Total | 555 | (26) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010 | Cagliari (assistant) | ||
| 2010–2012 | Cagliari Primavera | ||
| 2012–2013 | Lumezzane | ||
| 2015 | Cagliari | ||
| 2015–2016 | Como | ||
| 2018–2019 | AEL | ||
| 2021 | AEL | ||
| 2021–2022 | Apollon Smyrnis | ||
| 2022 | Lamia | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gianluca Festa (born 15 March 1969) is an Italian professionalfootballmanager and former player. Festa played as adefender for clubs such asInternazionale andRoma, and is best known playing forMiddlesbrough andCagliari.
Born inCagliari, Festa started his career at his hometown clubCagliari. During the 1987–88 season, he was loaned to Fersulcis. After his loan spell, he started impressing and showing constant performances at Cagliari which eventually madeInter Milan show interest, whom he joined in 1993. In his first year at the club, he only made four league starts for Inter, and was transferred toSerie A rivalsRoma. His form for Roma then earned him a move back to Inter Milan, where he became a regular starter for the club; however, prior to joining Middlesbrough, he lost his place in the team and found himself mainly as a substitute.
In 1997, Festa joinedMiddlesbrough, being one of the first Italians to play in thePremier League. Festa arrived at Middlesbrough from Inter in the midst of a relegation battle to add steel to the defence. Festa was the second Italian at the club with Middlesbrough, who also had Italian internationalFabrizio Ravanelli at the club. Festa scored on an impressive winning debut againstSheffield Wednesday in January 1997.[1] Festa had been an accomplished martial arts master, a junior Italian tennis champion and captain of the Army team when he did his national service.[2] He had shrewd positional sense, was tough in the tackle, a dominating figure in the air and got forward on occasions to score the odd important goal. After scoring in the semi-final againstChesterfield,[3] a goal that could have been even more historic was ruled out when Festa's header in the1997 FA Cup Final was deemed offside. That was one of three Wembley appearances he made in his first 18 months at the club.
When many of Middlesbrough's players left following relegation, Festa stayed and helped win promotion back to the top flight. His performances earned him the Middlesbrough player of the year award in 1998. Festa was squeezed out by the arrivals ofEngland internationalsGareth Southgate andUgo Ehiogu but remained as a squad player. In his final season at Boro, they again reached theFA Cup semi finals. This time, they facedArsenal. Festa came on as a substitute for the injured Ehiogu with the score poised at 0–0. However, he scored an own goal, which proved to be decisive, as Arsenal reached the final with a narrow 1–0 win.[4] Other memorable moments for Festa include scoring a late equaliser in a 3–3 draw withSouthampton, despite the team being reduced to nine men,[5] and an equaliser againstNorth East rivalsNewcastle United.[6]
In 2002, Festa left Middlesbrough for a short spell atPortsmouth, where he scored once againstBradford City[7] and was part of the squad that won theFirst Division and gained promotion to thePremier League. He left Portsmouth at the end of the season.
In 2003, he returned to Italy, joiningCagliari and helping therossoblu win promotion to theSerie A. In 2004, he joinedEccellenza Sardinia sideNuorese, serving as teamcaptain and leading the club to two consecutive promotions. At the end of the 2006–07 season, and an unsuccessful appearance in theSerie C2 playoffs, he left the team by mutual consent in September 2007.[8] Festa then signed forTavolara in theSerie D, coached by his former teammate Vittorio Pusceddu.[9] He ended his career after playing forSanluri in the Eccellenza Sardinia in the 2008–09 season.
Usually deployed as a central defender in the role of astopper, Festa was known for his tenacious and hard-tackling playing style, as well as his positional sense, man-marking ability, physical power, strength in the air, ability to organize the back-line, and his capacity to get forward despite being a defender; indeed, he was well-known for his eye for scoring goals, having scored at least once in every season of his career since the 1993–94 season. He was also capable of playing as aright-back, and often played in this position during his time with Cagliari.[2][10][11][12]
On 14 April 2010, he was appointed as assistant manager to newly appointed manager Giorgio Melis at his former clubCagliari.[13] He has also been in charge of the club's Primavera team.
On 14 June 2012, he was appointed the new manager ofLumezzane in theLega Pro Prima Divisione. In March 2013, Festa leftLumezzane and was replaced by Lumezzane captainMichele Marcolini.
On 31 January 2014, Festa was tipped to replaceBrian McDermott as the new manager ofLeeds United, a decision which caused uproar amongst the club's fans. On 1 February,[clarification needed] it was rumoured that Festa was to sit in the dugout for Leeds United's game againstIpswich Town.[14] McDermott was reinstated as manager on 1 February, during the second half of theHuddersfield Town match; on 3 February, McDermott revealed in his press conference that Festa had changed the starting lineup on 31 January for the fixture against Huddersfield Town, only for the team to then be changed back again to the original starting lineup on 1 February by McDermott's assistant managerNigel Gibbs, who also took charge as caretaker instead of Festa. McDermott also revealed that on 3 February that Festa was still present in training, however this time acting as a translator for new signingAndrea Tabanelli. Tabanelli was signed in between the window of McDermott's "sacking" and his reinstatement.[15]
On 22 April 2015, followingZdeněk Zeman's resignation, Festa was appointed as the new manager of relegation-threatenedSerie A sideCagliari, returning to the club he both played for and served as assistant manager.[16] Despite winning a number of matches, Festa was unable to preventCagliari from being relegated to theSerie B. At the end of the season, Festa left the club and was replaced byMassimo Rastelli.[17][18]
On 1 November 2015, he was named new manager ofComo in theSerie B.[19] He was sacked on 13 March 2016, with the club being at the bottom of the table.[20]
On 24 September 2018, he was named new manager ofAEL in theSuper League Greece.[21] During his time in Larissa, he managed to keep the team in the Super League and thus avoided relegation. At the end of the season, he resigned.
On 21 January 2021, he returned to AEL for a second spell.[22] He was sacked on 9 May 2021, following a 3–1 away defeat againstVolos.[23]
On 24 September 2021, he was announced as the new manager ofApollon Smyrnis in theSuper League Greece.[24]
As of 13 November 2022
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | W | D | L | Win % | |||
 Cagliari Primavera | 1 July 2010 | 13 June 2012 | 52 | 17 | 12 | 23 | 32.69 |
| Lumezzane | 14 June 2012 | 19 March 2013 | 28 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 32.14 |
| Cagliari | 21 April 2015 | 12 June 2015 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 57.14 |
| Como | 1 November 2015 | 13 March 2016 | 20 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 10.00 |
 AEL | 24 September 2018 | 30 June 2019 | 31 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 32.26 |
| 21 January 2021 | 9 May 2021 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 23.53 | |
| Apollon Smyrnis | 24 September 2021 | 26 February 2022 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 12.50 |
| Lamia | 3 March 2022 | 13 November 2022 | 26 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 19.23 |
| Total | 197 | 53 | 62 | 82 | 26.90 | ||
Cagliari[2]
Inter Milan
Middlesbrough
Portsmouth
Football League Division 1:2002-03