Birkirkara FC announced that Gianluca Festa has been appointed as coach until the end of the season. He takes the post left vacant following the termination of the contract of Stefano De Angelis last month.

After a career as a player with Cagliari, Inter, Roma, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Cagliari once again and Nuorese, Festa started his coaching career at Cagliari as assistant coach and later as coach of the primavera side. He went on to lead Lumezzane and had a short spell at Cagliari, replacing Zdenek Zeman before joining Como. His first coaching experience outside Italy was with AE Larisa in Greece during season 2018/19. He re-joined Larisa mid-way through season 2020/21. The following season, he joined Apollon Smyrnis but was sacked in January, re-hired in February, staying less than a month and then joining PAS Lamia. 

The Stripes are currently joint-third from bottom with two points from three matches after two draws against Valletta and Gzira United and a defeat to Hibernians on Saturday.