Gianluca Festa was born on 15 March 1969 and is an Italian professional football manager and former player.
18 Facts About Gianluca Festa
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In 1997, Gianluca Festa joined Middlesbrough, being one of the first Italians to play in the Premier League.
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Gianluca Festa arrived at Middlesbrough from Inter in the midst of a relegation battle to add steel to the defence.
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Gianluca Festa was the second Italian at the club with Middlesbrough, who had Italian international Fabrizio Ravanelli at the club.
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Gianluca Festa scored on an impressive winning debut against Sheffield Wednesday in January 1997.
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Gianluca 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.
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Gianluca Festa 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.
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When many of Middlesbrough's players left following relegation, Gianluca Festa stayed and helped win promotion back to the top flight.
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Gianluca Festa's performances earned him the Middlesbrough player of the year award in 1998.
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Gianluca Festa was squeezed out by the arrivals of England internationals Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu but remained as a squad player.
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In 2002, Gianluca Festa left Middlesbrough for a short spell at Portsmouth, where he scored st Bradford City and was part of the squad that won the First Division and gained promotion to the Premier League.
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Gianluca Festa left Portsmouth at the end of the season.
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Gianluca Festa then signed for Tavolara in the Serie D, coached by his former teammate Vittorio Pusceddu.
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Gianluca Festa was capable of playing as a right-back, and often played in this position during his time with Cagliari.
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Gianluca Festa has been in charge of the club's Primavera team.
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In March 2013, Gianluca Festa left Lumezzane and was replaced by Lumezzane captain Michele Marcolini.
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On 31 January 2014, Gianluca Festa was tipped to replace Brian McDermott as the new manager of Leeds United, a decision which caused uproar amongst the club's fans.
18.
On 22 April 2015, following Zdenek Zeman's resignation, Gianluca Festa was appointed as the new manager of relegation-threatened Serie A side Cagliari, returning to the club he both played for and served as assistant manager.