Back in 2001, the hit football comedy Mike Bassett: England Manager made a coincidental prediction that England would be competing at the World Cup in Brazil.

Thirteen years on, the vision has come true as the real national team prepare to take on some of the best countries in the world at the prestigious tournament this summer.

It has now led to big news today that the film’s production team are set to reunite for a long-awaited sequel entitled Mike Bassett: Interim Manager which will be begin shooting later this year.

The follow-up will see original actor Ricky Tomlinson (The Royle Family) reprise his popular role as the hapless football coach as he finds himself being brought back into the national team setup in order to assist German coach Jorgen Mannstein.

Original director Steve Barron (Coneheads, The Adventures of Pinocchio) is set to return for the new film alongside screenwriters Rob Sprackling and John R Smith. He gave his thoughts about the news in a statement:

“Bassett was the last England manager to take the national team to Brazil. We reached the semis then, who knows what we could achieve this time?

“As the years have gone by, Bassett seems to have dug deeper into football folklore. There is hardly a manager in the game that hasn’t been compared to him. Usually at a low point. Sometimes a very low point.”

Footballer/actor Andy Ansah (Dream Team, Goal) is the only previous cast member confirmed to return though it is not known whether other original stars like Amanda Redman (Karine Bassett) or Bradley Walsh (Dave Dodds) will follow suit.

Tomlinson and Redman did reprise their roles for the short-lived 2005 television series Mike Bassett: Manager which ran for six episodes on ITV. That particularly outing saw Bassett take charge of Wirral County though like his England stint, he would endure many lows in charge.

There is no official date for the film sequel’s release though it likely to be sometime in 2015.

In the meantime, feast your eyes upon this renowned clip from the original classic which features one of cinema’s greatest speeches!