June 19 (Reuters) - Steve ⁠Corica, who led Auckland FC to ⁠the A-League championship in only their second ‌season, is leaving the club to pursue an opportunity overseas, the team said on Friday.

Corica guided Auckland to ​a first-place finish in the ⁠regular season in ⁠their inaugural 2024/2025 campaign before they lost in ⁠the semis ‌of the Finals series.

This season, they secured the A-League championship to ⁠become the first New Zealand team to ​win the ‌Grand Final in the competition's 20-year history.

"It ⁠has been ​a fantastic two years with a city, a fan group and a team that have ⁠all been way beyond my ​expectations," the 53-year-old said in statement.

"I didn’t know quite what I was getting into when I ⁠joined two years ago, but what an experience it has been.

"We started with nothing. Then year one we’re Premiers, winning the first ​piece of A-League silverware ⁠for any Kiwi club, and then year two ​we’re riding a bus down ‌the middle of Queen ​Street parading the championship trophy."

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru;Editing by Peter Rutherford)