Just as they had in 1966, West Ham United had three representatives in the England squad in Japan/South Korea in 2002.
Unfortunately, the trio of David James, Trevor Sinclair and Joe Cole were unable to emulate Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst's achievements in winning the FIFA World Cup 36 years previously.
Instead, the three Hammers were left disappointed as England reached the quarter-finals before being narrowly edged out by ten-man Brazil in the Japanese city of Shizuoka.
Prior to that, Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad had emerged from a so-called 'Group of Death' that also included Argentina, Nigeria and Sweden. To many fans' surprise, it was the English who topped Group F ahead of the Swedes on goal difference.
Eriksson's men kicked-off against his fellow countrymen in Saitama, with former Hammer Rio Ferdinand at centre-back and Cole and future West Ham winger Kieron Dyer emerging as second-half substitutes during a 1-1 draw.
England's second match saw David Beckham's penalty score a fantastic 1-0 victory over Argentina in Sapporo, with Ferdinand again starting and future Hammer Teddy Sheringham appearing as a substitute. It was the performance of Hammers midfielder Sinclair which caught the eye, though, with the 29-year-old impressing as a 19th-minute substitute for the injured Owen Hargreaves.
With Hargreaves out, Sinclair would keep his place on the left side of midfield - a position that had caused all manner of debate in the lead up to the finals - for the remainder of the tournament. Amazingly, he had only been called into the final 23-man squad when Danny Murphy was ruled out through injury.
Speaking after the game, Sinclair could hardly contain his pride and delight at making such an impact, saying: "I feel like I'm part of the squad now and I feel like I deserve to be there. I can't put into words how much it means to me to be playing for my country in the World Cup. I feel fortunate to be here and having an effect on the games. I was 25th man, the other people had problems and Danny Murphy pulled out injured. Then Joe Cole has a slight knock and Owen comes off and the gaffer tells me to go on. I am just delighted to be here - to get on and play is even better."
His first World Cup finals start came alongside Ferdinand in the third Group F fixture - a goalless draw with Nigeria in Osaka that sent the Three Lions roaring into the knockout stages.
The Round of 16 saw England paired with Denmark in Niigata. There, Sinclair played the full 90 minutes as England sped into a 3-0 half-time lead that they would not relinquish. Ferdinand opened the scoring, while Sheringham and Dyer appeared as second-half replacements.
With momentum and optimism rising among the squad and back home, England took on Brazil for a place in the semi-finals, taking a first-half lead through Michael Owen. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of Sinclair and company, goals from Rivaldo and Ronaldinho - the latter of whom was later red-carded - knocked Eriksson's men out of the tournament.
At the time, Sinclair admitted Rivaldo's goal two minutes into first-half stoppage time had taken the wind out of England's sails.
"It was a terrible blow to lose that goal right on half-time," he said post-match. "It turned the game their way. We were winning, and if we could have got to half-time and then taken stock, things might have been different. But it was a great bit of skill by Ronaldinho to create the opening for Rivaldo and he did the business with a world-class finish.
"The game turned away from us at crucial times. I thought when we were 1-0 up we had lots of options and could have scored more, but it was not to be and we are all disappointed in the dressing room
"It is a massive disappointment, but this team is young enough and talented enough to come again."
For Sinclair, who earned the last of his 12 caps in August 2003, there would not be another FIFA World Cup finals, but he had certainly made his mark on South Korea/Japan 2002.