There couldn’t be much more of a stark contrast between now and the last time Fulham hosted Huddersfield 14 years ago.
The clubs go head to head on Saturday with the Cottagers looking for a win to help propel them up the Championship table.
The Whites are in a state of flux – after picking up just one point from their opening eight matches, the following eight under new boss Kit Symons has produced 15 points.
Jean Tigana’s Fulham side, which romped to victory against Huddersfield in November 2000, played with consistency, flair and solidarity.
It is hard to argue that 2014’s Fulham has had consistency or flair – but under Symons, they now seem to have more solidarity.
Fourteen years ago, the hosts were on the rise, lying in second place in Division One, and had only been beaten once in their opening 15 matches.
Huddersfield, in comparison, were struggling for form at the bottom of the table – a struggle which eventually proved fruitless.
The visitors had brought in ex-Manchester United midfielder Lou Macari as manager, and his first game was more symptomatic of things to come.
But it was another clean sheet for a defence that comprised current Fulham manager Symons and former boss – now in charge of Wales - Chris Coleman alongside fan favourites Steve Finnan and Rufus Brevett.
Despite a lacklustre performance, the Cottagers stormed to an emphatic 3-0 win after Louis Saha headed home to open the scoring on his way to 32 goals in all competitions.
Saha’s strike early in the second half came shortly before Scott Sellars received his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
Bjarne Goldbaek hit a late deflection two minutes from the end, before Finnan slammed home an effort to add gloss to the scoreline.
It turned out to be a remarkable season for Fulham as they won the title and with it promotion to the Premier League.
They smashed their way to promotion, breaking the 100-point barrier and conceded just 32 goals in 46 games.
Their opponents on Saturday ended up losing their relegation fight by a point as they went down with Tranmere and Fulham's west London neighbours QPR.
Keep up to date with all the build-up, matchday and post-game reaction to Fulham v Huddersfield right here on GetWestLondon
