Montserrat national football team

Montserrat

Nickname(s)	Emerald Boys
Association	Montserrat Football Association
Sub-confederation	CFU (Caribbean)
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Head coach	Kenny Dyer
Top scorer	Jaylee Hodgson (3)
Home stadium	Blakes Estate Stadium
FIFA code	MSR
FIFA ranking	203
Highest FIFA ranking	196 (July 2006)
Lowest FIFA ranking	205 (June–September 2004)
Elo ranking	222
Home colours Away colours
First international
Saint Lucia 3–0 Montserrat (Saint Lucia; May 10, 1991)
Biggest win
Montserrat 3–2 Anguilla  (Montserrat; March 26, 1995)  Anguilla 0–1 Montserrat (Anguilla; April 2, 1995)
Biggest defeat
Bermuda 13–0 Montserrat (Hamilton, Bermuda; February 29, 2004)

The Montserrat national football team represents the small Caribbean island of Montserrat in the CONCACAF football region. Football is the second most popular sport in Montserrat, with cricket being the most-played sport on the island. The team play at the Blakes Estate Stadium in Plymouth and the team manager is currently Kenny Dyer. The Montserrat football team was formed in 1973, and has entered World Cup qualifying three times, being eliminated in the first round on each occasion (2002, 2006, and 2010).

Due to the heavy volcanic activity on the island since 1995, the team has only played a handful of matches, and most of those have been away from home. Their only victories were against neighboring Anguilla in the qualifying tournament of the 1995 Caribbean Cup, winning 3–2 at home and 1–0 away. Apart from one other draw against Anguilla, all their other matches have been lost.

On June 30, 2002, the day of the final match of the 2002 World Cup, Montserrat, then the lowest ranked team in the world, played against the second lowest team, Bhutan, in a friendly match known jokingly as "The Other Final", but lost 4–0 to become the worst team in the world. In 2006, the team achieved a record-high FIFA rank of #196.

History

The Montserrat national team is one of the newest in international football, having played its first senior match on 10 May 1991 during the 1991 Caribbean Cup tournament. The team suffered a 0–3 defeat to Saint Lucia at the Vieux Fort National Stadium in Saint Lucia. The team played their next match at the same venue, securing a 1–1 draw with Anguilla. This is the team's only draw in international matches to date. Montserrat again entered the Caribbean Cup the following year but were once more knocked out in the Group Stage following heavy defeats to Saint Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda. They were drawn against the same two teams for the 1994 Caribbean Cup, but again left the tournament at the Group Stage after conceding 17 goals in just two matches. In 1994, the Montserrat Football Association (MFA) was formed. Like all other Caribbean football teams, the MFA became a member of CONCACAF.

On 26 March 1995, Montserrat played their first ever home international match. They defeated Anguilla 3–2 in Plymouth, achieving their first win. The team beat Anguilla again in the next fixture to ensure progress to the Second Qualfying Round of the 1995 Caribbean Cup. The 1–0 win in the second leg was their only clean sheet in international football to date and is also their most recent victory. The side exited the competition in the next stage, losing 0–20 on aggregate over two legs against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Soon afterwards, the Soufriere Hills volcano became active and the eruptions destroyed Plymouth, the capital of Montserrat, severely disrupting all football on the island. Despite the lack of football action, the MFA became a full FIFA member in 1996. However, it was a further three years until the Montserrat team played another international fixture. This was mostly because many of the island's footballers had emigrated away from the area, many of them to England.

After a four-year hiatus, the team entered the 1999 Caribbean Nations Cup. However, they were knocked out in the Preliminary Round of the tournament, losing 1–6 over two legs to the British Virgin Islands. Due to the volcanic activity, Montserrat had been unable to enter the FIFA World Cup for the 1998 tournament, so their entry into the 2002 World Cup qualification campaign was their first. Their inaugural World Cup conquest was not a success as they were defeated 0–3 away by the Dominican Republic. In the second leg, played in Trinidad and Tobago, the team fell to a 1–3 loss in front of a crowd of only 50 spectators. In 2001, the MFA visited The Football Association to raise money for a new stadium. The Blakes Estate Stadium was opened in Plymouth, the now abandoned city. The team's next match happened on 30 June 2002, the day of the World Cup Final, when Montserrat played Bhutan in a game known as "The Other Final". The friendly match between the two lowest-ranked teams in the world ended with a 4–0 win for Bhutan in front of 25,000 fans in Thimphu.

Montserrat entered the World Cup qualifiers once more for the 2006 edition of the competition, but again lost in the First Qualifying Round, this time losing 0–20 on aggregate to Bermuda. In the first leg at the Bermuda National Stadium they lost 0–13, which is their heaviest-ever defeat. The second leg, a 0–7 loss, was the first international match played at the team's new ground and was watched by 250 supporters. Montserrat then competed in the 2005 Caribbean Cup, but once more failed to progess past the Premilinary Round. In the team's most recent match in 2008, they were defeated 1–7 by Suriname in the First Qualifying Round of the 2010 World Cup. The match was played in Macoya because neither team's stadiums met FIFA standards.

Montserrat all time record against all nations

As of 18 July 2011

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Anguilla	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3	0%
Antigua and Barbuda	1	0	0	1	4	5	−1	0%
Barbados	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5	0%
Belize	2	0	0	2	3	8	−5	0%
Bermuda	2	0	0	2	0	20	−20	0%
Bhutan	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	0%
British Virgin Islands	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	0%
Dominican Republic	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	0%
Saint Kitts and Nevis	2	0	0	2	1	10	−9	0%
Saint Lucia	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	0%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1	0	0	1	0	7	−7	0%
Suriname	1	0	0	1	1	7	−6	0%
Total	17	0	0	17	12	85	−73	0%

World rankings

The poor results of the team has seen them often frequenting the lower end of the FIFA World Rankings. The loss to Bhutan in "The Other Final" saw them fall to #203 in the rankings, becoming worst-ranked side in the world. After the addition of another two teams to FIFA, Montserrat achieved a new low of #205 between July and October 2004. In July 2006, they achieved a record high rank of #196 but they fell back down to #198 the following month. As of December 2009 Montserrat are #203 in the rankings, just ahead of American Samoa.

Due to the number of losses incurred by Montserrat, the team have also traditionally languished at the lower reaches of the unofficial World Football Elo Ratings, which ranks teams directly based on their match results.

Colours

Since the team's first match in 1991, Montserrat have worn a first-choice kit of all olive-green. Currently, the away kit is red jersey, shorts and socks.

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

Main article: List of Montserrat national football team results

Date	Location	Opponent	Score	Scorers for Montserrat	Competition
6 October 2010	Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0–7	N/A	2010 Caribbean Championship
8 October 2010	Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Barbados	0–5	N/A	2010 Caribbean Championship
10 October 2010	Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0–4	N/A	2010 Caribbean Championship
15 June 2011	Couva, Trinidad and Tobago	Belize	2–5	Jaylee Hodgson  44', 86'	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
17 July 2011	San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Belize	1–3	Jaylee Hodgson  59'	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Belize on the 15 of June and the 17 of July 2011. Caps and goals updated as of July 17.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Micah Hilton 2 October 1985 (1985-10-02) (age 26) 3 0 P.C. United 20 GK McPherson Meade 16 February 1979 (1979-02-16) (age 32) 0 0 5 DF Kendall Allen 2 June 1992 (1992-06-02) (age 19) 2 0 6 DF Nyron Dyer 24 October 1989 (1989-10-24) (age 22) 2 0 2 MF Andrew Julius 20 July 1984 (1984-07-20) (age 27) 3 0 Bedfont Sports 4 MF Anthony Griffith 28 October 1986 (1986-10-28) (age 25) 2 0 Port Vale 8 MF Wayne Dyer 24 November 1977 (1977-11-24) (age 33) 6 1 Romulus 12 MF Alexander Bramble 13 July 1984 (1984-07-13) (age 27) 3 0 14 MF Dale Lee 15 July 1991 (1991-07-15) (age 20) 2 0 15 MF Alex Dyer 11 June 1990 (1990-06-11) (age 21) 2 0 Wealdstone 17 MF Stanford Jarrett 9 August 1977 (1977-08-09) (age 34) 3 0 Ideal United 23 MF Leovan O'Garro 26 June 1987 (1987-06-26) (age 24) 5 0 Foxfield United 34 MF Clifford Joseph 26 September 1978 (1978-09-26) (age 33) 5 0 Ideal United 19 MF Benjamin Manning 12 June 1986 (1986-06-12) (age 25) 3 0 Sporting Bengal 9 MF Darryl Roach 7 September 1984 (1984-09-07) (age 27) 2 0 Port Melbourne Sharks 7 FW Julian Wade 12 July 1989 (1989-07-12) (age 22) 4 0 Ideal United 10 FW Jaylee Hodgson 17 October 1981 (1981-10-17) (age 30) 2 3 Loughborough Dynamo

Note: Caps and goals may be incomplete for certain players, therefore being inaccurate.

World Cup record

• 1930 to 1998 – Did not enter
• 2002 to 2014 – Did not qualify

Gold Cup record

• 1991 – Did not qualify
• 1993 – Did not enter
• 1996 – Did not qualify
• 1998 – Did not enter
• 2000 to 2002 – Did not qualify
• 2003 – Withdrew
• 2005 – Did not qualify
• 2007 to 2009 – Did not enter
• 2011 – Did not qualify

Coaches

• Knut Auf Dem Berge (2000)
• Paul Morris (2002)
• William Lewis (2002–2004)
• Ruel Fox (2004)
• Scott Cooper (2004)
• Kenny Dyer
• Cecil Lake (2008)

External links

• RSSSF archive of Montserrat national team results
• National Football Teams