TOWN manager Peter Jackson just couldn't resist joking with Junior Mendes about his call-up for Montserrat.

"You've only seen it on the Holiday Programme," beamed Jacko, when telling Mendes his first international adventure was sorted.

Mendes admits it's not far from the truth, because he's never set foot on the volcano-hit territory in the Leeward Islands which was the birthplace of his father, Hil'dyard (pronounced Hillyard, but Hil for short), who moved to England with his family.

"My father and sister have been there, so I've obviously seen pictures and been told of how beautiful Montserrat is," said Mendes, who will be joining a country ranked 205th in the FIFA international rankings (there is no-one below them on the website!).

"My dad was born there and came to England when he was about 12. My mum is Jamaican, so I would qualify for them as well, but Montserrat have inquired about me playing before and, this time, it's worked out.

"I wouldn't have gone if it had meant missing a lot of matches, but it's just going to be one League match and the LDV and I'm now really looking forward to going.

"Obviously my dad is delighted and it's a first international involvement for me, so it's something special."

Much of the island was devastated and two thirds of the population fled abroad because of the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano that began on July 18 1995.

The chief town of the island was Plymouth, but it is now abandoned because of the volcanic activity which continues to this day.

Around 8,000 refugees left the island - which is only half the size of Washington DC - following the devastation of 1995.

So here are 10 things you (probably) didn't know about Montserrat:

* It's in the West Indies (Lesser Antilles, Leeward Islands).

* Population 9,245 (8,000 left after volcanic devastation in 1995) and they have only one TV broadcasting station.

* Languages are English and patois.

* There are three volcanoes of different ages in the centre of the island (it was Soufriere Hills Volcano which hit two thirds of the landmass in 1995).

* Religions are Anglican, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Seventh-Day Adventist and other Christian denominations. On the east side of Plymouth there was an 18th century Roman Catholic church while, in Parliament Street, there was a 19th century Methodist church.

* Paul Furlong and Michael Duberry also qualify to play for Montserrat.

* Former Drakes League cricketer Lesroy Weekes (Thongsbridge) is from the island.

* Average daily temperatures in the UK overseas territory are 23C to 30C.

* Most of the island's beaches have dark-coloured volcanic sand.

* There is a Pan Am Memorial commemorating an aircraft crash on Chance's Peak in September 1965.