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.
[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 against Chesterfield,[3] a goal that could have been even more historic was ruled out when Festa's header in the 1997 FA Cup Final was deemed offside.
Festa was squeezed out by the arrivals of England internationals Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu but remained as a squad player.
[6] In 2002, Festa left Middlesbrough for a short spell at Portsmouth, where he scored once against Bradford City[7] and was part of the squad that won the First Division and gained promotion to the Premier League.
Usually deployed as a central defender in the role of a stopper, 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.
On 31 January 2014, Festa was tipped to replace Brian McDermott as the new manager of Leeds 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 against Ipswich Town.
McDermott also revealed that on 3 February that Festa was still present in training, however this time acting as a translator for new signing Andrea Tabanelli.