BILLY Hamilton, the last Claret to feature in a World Cup, has told the current crop who are set to join him in the Turf Moor record books to relish every moment of their Russian adventure.

The 61-year-old remains the last Burnley player to play in the tournament, when he featured for Northern Ireland in 1982, with his Turf Moor teammate Tommy Cassidy also part of that squad.

But Hamilton's hold on history will soon be relinquished, almost certainly this weekend when Johann Berg Gudmundsson is set to line up for Iceland against Argentina, while Nick Pope is also part of the England squad for the tournament in Russia.

Hamilton has urged the Clarets duo to do themselves proud over the next few weeks as they embark on what could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"Take it all in, you might not get to another one. You have to give it your best shot, it’s a fantastic competition," he said.

"A lot of it swept over my head, I didn’t take it all in. I would say to those guys enjoy every minute of it and do yourselves proud.

"It’s a big, big part of your life and it can change your career."

Hamilton featured in the 1986 World Cup as well, although his five-year stay at Turf Moor had ended by then.

In 1982 he was part of the historic side who beat hosts Spain and he scored twice in the second group phase draw with Austria as well. Now running his own trophy shop in Bangor, the man who made 248 appearances for Burnley still has people talking to him about those iconic nights 36 years ago.

And he feels Gudmundsson could be in for a similar experience this time around, with Iceland becoming the smallest nation every to qualify for the World Cup.

"In Northern Ireland it’s part of the sporting folklore, nobody gave us a chance of beating Spain and making the quarter-finals," he said.

"For people of a certain generation it’s like 'where were you when Kennedy was shot?' Everybody knows where they were (when we beat Spain), what they were doing on that night. It’s a big sporting milestone in Northern Ireland.

"It’s going to be big for those guys (in the Iceland team), they’re coming from a small country like Northern Ireland as well so there’ll be thrust into the media attention we got."

That media attention was one of the big shocks for Hamilton when he headed out to Spain in 1982 and despite the passage of time his memories of that incredible summer remain as crystal clear as they were when it first happened.

"It’s very vivid in the mind," he said of his 1982 experience. "It’s quite a shock when you see all the media attention, maybe not so much now, but in those days we were used to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

"Then we had Spanish TV, Brazilian TV, French TV, all their journalists wanting interviews, it was quite eye opening.

"The attention that the Premier League gets now they’ll be more used to it now than I was."

So how does Hamilton feel about his moment of Turf Moor history ending after three-and-a-half decades? "It's about time that record was put to bed. I’m only too glad," he enthused.

"What Burnley have achieved in the last eight, nine, 10 years has been magnificent. They’ve gone up and down a couple of times but for a town like Burnley to host a Premier League club is just fantastic.

"People talk about Leicester winning the league, but the achievements of Burnley recently are up there with that."