Alfonso Greco will not be in charge of Sliema Wanderers next season as the Italian coach has decided to return to his homeland after accepting the offer of Serie D club Ostiamare.
Greco had joined the Wanderers for a second spell in February when he replaced Stephen Azzopardi.
Sliema were misfiring badly at the time but Greco succeeded in turning the team’s fortunes as the Blues embarked on a strong run at the end of the season to improve their position in the standings.
They reached a peak earlier this month when Sliema won the FA Trophy for a record 21st time following a penalty shoot-out victory over Balzan in the final.
The FA Trophy was the first major honour won by the Wanderers after an absence of seven years.
Despite the cup success, Sliema will not play a part in the 2016-17 European club competitions as the club still had to regulate its position before the deadline to acquire the necessary UEFA licence.
In a statement on the Ostiamare website, Greco said he was sad to have left Sliema Wanderers but the opportunity to return home was too hard to resist.
“It’s always difficult to leave a club where you felt comfortable,” Greco said.
“I have learned a lot from my experience as coach of Sliema Wanderers. There, I had the opportunity to train a great group of players coming from different parts of the world… together we worked hard towards winning the FA Trophy.
“As I said, I liked Sliema but I could not turn down this chance to coach a team in the Lazio region.”
Greco is the third BOV Premier League coach to leave his club in the off-season.
Earlier this month, Hibernians announced they had reached an amicable agreement to end their association with Branko Nisevic.
The Serbian coach, who led the Paolites to the 2014-15 league title, is reportedly in advanced talks to take charge of Premier League newcomers Gżira United.
Floriana will also have to change their technical set-up and appoint a new head coach following the departure of Luis Oliveira.
Oliveira, a former Belgium striker, took over at Floriana in summer of last year. He only managed to lead the Greens to fifth place in the Premier League and the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy.