The Elm City Express captured the 2017 NPSL championship. (Photo courtesy of the NPSL)

The Elm City Express has decided to take the 2019 National Premier Soccer League season off.

K2 Soccer SA, which holds the controlling interest in the team, wanted the club to sit out the season to restructure the club and return to the league in 2020, the club announced on Twitter Saturday.

The 2017 NPSL champions also announced that Express co-founder and president Zack Henry will leave his post “to pursue new challenges.”

In a statement, the Express “would like to extend its heartfelt gratitude to the core group of people who believed in and nurtured his project and helped the club.”

The Express won the national crown in its inaugural season and reached the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2018. Elm City (5-3-2, 17 points) finished fourth in the North Atlantic Conference Division of the Northeast Region Conference. It was eliminated by Cosmos B in the opening round of the playoffs.

“In that same spirit, the Express would like to thank our players, coaches, partners, fans — and of course the City of New Haven — for the enthusiasm, hard work and support.”

K2 Soccer SA also owns Brazilian club CA Tubarao

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.