After 13 years serving over two terms, Larry Mussenden is looking forward to stepping down as Bermuda Football Association president and “observing quietly” in the background.

Mussenden will officially walk away from his post tonight when the BFA hold its Annual Congress Meeting at Devonshire Recreation Club to elect a new president, second vice-president and executive members.

Mark Wade, the first vice-president, is running unopposed for the top position while Shannon Burgess and Crenstant Williams are contesting the second vice-president’s role, which Burgess holds.

“I will go with mixed emotions because I will miss all the local football business, dealing with clubs, players, executives and staff, but observing quietly what’s going on,” Mussenden said.

Several factors led to his decision not to stand, including a new job as Director of Public Prosecutions, which he took up in March.

Mussenden would have been forced to give up the BFA position anyway had he been successful in his bid for the Concacaf presidency in May, losing out to Victor Montagliani of Canada in Mexico City. He said he just felt it was time for a new man to take local football forward.

“If I had been successful in the Concacaf election I would have had to step down from the BFA anyway within a few months,” he pointed out.

“Then sometimes you look and ask how much stress, pressure and workload you can put on yourself for a long period of time.

“There comes a point when you just want to ease your workload. Thirteen years is a long time; it’s like having two full-time jobs. I’ve got a very important [DPP] job right now, the office is full of young Bermudians and we have work to do.”

Mussenden first came into the presidency in 2001 when he took over from Neville Tyrrell who resigned barely a year into his second term. Mussenden stayed until 2008 when he lost to Richard Calderon, but Calderon, a former Bermuda player, stepped down two years into his four-year term.

Mussenden was back at the helm after beating out the challenge from Mark Wade, who Mussenden believes will bring fresh ideas and the experience of having served as vice-president.

“He’s the only person running so I anticipate he’ll be elected as the president by the congress,” Mussenden said. “Mark and I have worked together for the past six years and he’s been on the executive the past few years as the first vice-president.

“We have got along really well and have each other’s trust and confidence. I think he’ll be an excellent leader and president of the BFA.

“He’s been around long enough, has a good football background, has his finger on the pulse and I think he will chart a way for himself and for football. I’ll be the happiest person to sit back, watch and observe and support where I can.”

One of the highlights of Mussenden’s tenure is the building of the Clyde Best Centre of Excellence, which houses the BFA office with the adjacent training field for national teams.

“We moved here in June 2015 and it was a momentous occasion for football, that we had a home for football,” he said. “And it’s mortgage free, fully funded by Fifa with land given to us on a lease by Government. It’s an honour to have the complex named after Clyde Best as well, and that he’s alive to receive the honour.”

The road was officially renamed BFA Way on Tuesday, timely for the outgoing president, who has served as chairman of the Fifa appeals committee since 2007. At one point he was a member of the Fifa disciplinary committee and is presently the chairman of the Concacaf appeals committee. He is also a former chairman of the CFU appeals committee.

Mussenden first joined the BFA as a volunteer in 1997 to help raise funds and now he is committed to another fundraising initiative. “I told the executives that I’m available to assist the clubs and the BFA in a project here and there,” he said.

“One thing I have asked to work on is a donor brick programme, which will encourage people to buy bricks with their name on it for a walkway here at the BFA. If you were a footballer, a fan or want to do it in memory of somebody, you can buy a brick for about $125 to put on the walkway. People can expect a phone call from me.”

Added Mussenden: “I was raising funds from 1997 to 2001, and at the time Government’s grant to the BFA was about $80,000 annually, which was increased over time because of the work we were doing,” Mussenden said. “That was increased to a peak of about $3 million a year around 2007-2008 before the recession.

“We were able to do some good things with that funding. We had the legends scholarships, brought equipment for the clubs, developed national team training and hired more staff. Football is our number one sport and it means a lot to Bermuda.

“As far as the building and the field, we’ve come a long way. When I first became president we were dialling around to different clubs and the National Stadium to find a place to train, so we were at the behest of other people. CedarBridge Academy get to use this field for their physical education and football training and we, in turn, get to use one or two of their classrooms to teach our courses.”