Montserrat national football team

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, after cricket. The team plays at the Blakes Estate Stadium, near the village of Look Out. The Montserrat football team was formed in 1973, and has entered the World Cup qualifiers since the 2002 edition, being eliminated in the first round on each occasion.

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 draw against Anguilla, all their other matches before 2018 have been lost. Since then, however, Montserrat has proven more competitive.

On June 30, 2002, the day of the 2002 World Cup Final, Montserrat, then the lowest ranked team in the world, played against the second lowest team, Bhutan, in a friendly match known as "The Other Final", but lost 4–0.

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.
Montserrat again entered the Caribbean Cup the following year but were once more knocked out in the group stage, with heavy defeats by 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, 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 Qualifying Round of the 1995 Caribbean Cup. The 1–0 win in the second leg would be their only clean sheet in international football and their most recent victory for the next seventeen years. 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 Soufrière 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 before 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. 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 1998 tournament, so their entry to the 2002 World Cup was their first; but it 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 lost 1–3 loss in front 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 near the village of Look Out. The team's next match was 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 15,000 fans in Thimphu.

Montserrat entered the World Cup qualifiers once more for the 2006 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, 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 progress past the preliminary round. 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.

A friendly against a Network Rail XI was played at Charlton Athletic's Valley stadium in London on May 19, 2012, ending in a 4–4 draw.

Montserrat achieved their first victory since 1995 and their first ever victory since joining FIFA, beating the British Virgin Islands 7–0 in a 2012 Caribbean Championship qualifying match, held in Martinique.

Montserrat's fortunes changed dramatically in 2018 with the arrival of Willie Donachie and launch of the CONCACAF Nations League. The side won three of their four qualifying games, but missed out on qualification for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup on goal difference after Nicaragua scored with 25 minutes to go against Barbados. The team went on to take second place in their group in the inaugural season with two wins, draws, and losses each, thus keeping their place in the second tier.

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. Success in the qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Nations League and the first edition of the league proper saw them rise to #184.

The team have also 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 usually worn a first-choice kit of green, either plain green or green and white hoops. Currently, the away kit is red jersey, shorts and socks.

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2022

2023

Coaching staff

Coaching history

* Paul Morris (2000–2002)
* William Lewis (2002–2004)
* Scott Cooper (2004)
* Ruel Fox (2004)
* Cecil Lake (2008)
* Kenny Dyer (2008–2013)
* Lenny Hewlett (2013–2015)
* Willie Donachie (2018–)

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League B matches against Guyana on 5 June 2022, Haiti on 7 June 2022 and Guyana on 12 and 14 June 2022.

''Caps and goals correct as of 12 June 2022, after the game against Haiti.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Montserrat squad in the last 12 months.

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Montserrat.''

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Nations League

Caribbean Cup

Head-to-head record

Note: teams in italic indicates that teams are not FIFA members.

References

External links

RSSSF archive of Montserrat national team resultsNational Football TeamsGuardian article which refers to Montserrat's 2012 match against a Network Rail XI

{{CONCACAF teams

Caribbean national association football teams