FIVE years ago, with Hull City closing in on their first ever promotion to the top flight, all involved with the club were 'daring to dream' and hoping Premier League football would finally come to the KC Stadium.
Behind the scenes, those running the club were more than hoping. They were praying for the top-flight dream to become a reality.
Because with the riches of the Premier League the reward, the Tigers had all-out gambled on going up, overspending to such an extent that officials later revealed a loss in the play-off final could have spelt financial ruin.
That situation, of course, came two years later following eventual relegation back to the Championship after two years of overspending and under-investment.
Fast-forward to today, and even current owner Assem Allam admits to being caught up by the same dream of taking the Tigers to English football's top table.
Whilst the club has still been losing vast amounts of money due to the over-spending of the Premier League days, manager Steve Bruce has been repeatedly backed in the transfer market.
Nick Proschwitz (£2.6m), Stephen Quinn (£100,000), Robbie Brady (£2m), David Meyler (£1.5m) and George Boyd (£200,000), have all been added, as well as Bruce being repeatedly supported in the loan market for David Stockdale, Ahmed Elmohamady, Gedo and Ahmed Fathi.
The difference this time is that City's ambitious bid for the top flight is being funded by the owner's own money, and not borrowings which could cripple the club.
Should the dream not be achieved, the Tigers will certainly not be in any financial danger. Allam, once again, will shoulder the cost.
Despite having ploughed £66m in to get the Tigers back in sight of English football's elite, the extra investment made this season has been one the businessman has been more than willing to make.
"There can be nothing better to lift the profile of the area than Hull City being in the Premier League," he says.
"They are exciting times because if you look back to just over two years ago we were in a different situation completely.
"When we bought the club there was a winding up order for the benefit of the taxman and one of the banks, and it was all about survival and saving the club. We paid close to £20m that night, that was dead money.
"This money we could have saved by waiting four days and then picking the club up from the administrator, but in my observation, almost every club that has been relegated in those circumstances has then gone into free-fall. Look at Leeds, relegated seven or eight years ago, they have been down in League One and still now are not back in the Premier League.
"Look at Preston, they are looking at going down to League Two, look at Birmingham, look at Blackburn, from Premier to Championship to possible relegation.
"The question was whether or not to save £20m, but for me the damage would have been difficult to repair. Not this quickly certainly. The main thing was to prevent that free-fall situation, and we achieved that.
"The priority after that was to get us moving from the relegation area and to achieve something better than that. We did that and ended 11th in the table.
"The second season, we ended up eighth and this season we now are looking at being in contention for promotion."
City's promotion bid has been built around Allam's willingness to continue digging deep and ploughing cash in.
It has proved money well spent because, with eight games remaining, City are sitting second in the Championship, with their fate firmly in their own hands.
However, Allam knows the club is potentially approaching a major crossroads in its future and, should it go off track over the next eight weeks, it may struggle to get back on the same road.
New Financial Fair Play rules, to be introduced next year, will limit the amount of money Championship clubs are allowed to lose – and those spending in excess of £2.5m more than they earn will be punished, and perhaps even hit by transfer embargoes.
Having insisted City are run as a business from day one, Allam agrees entirely with the change.
But he admits that given the Tigers' financial position, in which losses still far outweigh income, he and son Ehab have taken a calculated gamble on hitting the jackpot this year.
"If we don't make the Premier League this season, next year in the Championship will be tougher," Allam admits.
"We simply can't do this again next year. I haven't got the money to put in.
"It has come from my pockets this year, but after this year, I haven't got any more pockets to take money from.
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"It is simple, there is no money available and when the Fair Play rules come in, they will force clubs to live within their means, that's a good idea and good move.
"I have tried to do it before these rules come in because if we stay in the Championship, we won't be able to target Premier League promotion again.
"To do that you need to spend more money, which will bring a penalty, and we will be penalised. We will have to hope we are strong enough to challenge again.
"Our wage bill is now over £20m. We have some players coming off contract at the end of the season from the Premier League days, like Seyi Olofinjana.
"Without replacing them, we come down to something like £14m, but that leaves us some way short of where we need to be."
The situation is obviously one which frustrates the City owner, and leads to an old and sour subject of his attempted purchase of the KC Stadium back in 2011 being brought up.
With only gate receipts and sponsorship as City's main sources of income, Allam still believes a major opportunity was missed when Hull City Council decided not to sell him the KC, and develop the site commercially to support the club.
He says it remains a big concern, even if City are playing Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham next season.
"Yes, you get Sky money and you get this and that, but you are also spending a lot of money on improving your squad with Premier League players," he said.
"The wage bill will move easily to £35m, then you need to spend probably £30m on new players. From this year, clubs have received about £70m, but you are spending all of your money and you don't have other things to live on.
"We have a stadium with a 25,000 capacity and that is our only big income generator. It means income is limited.
"My concern is you need a club that can survive and stand alone without relying upon a family cash injection. I am 73 now and I said this at 71 to the councillors.
"I do not want the club to rely on me being alive. I want the club to have the ways and means of surviving.
"I was prepared to put money in to create commercial income and commercial activities and income to help the club without having to rely on injections from the owners. I couldn't do that.
"I accept the decision of the councillors, they are elected to make the decision and they have the right to do that.
"But the fact is, I don't think the Tigers can survive without someone continuing to inject money.
"There is no guarantee that any owner can carry on injecting money forever. It is dangerous to get a club relying on that.
"Thankfully, we are still a debt free club, and that is one of the best things we have managed to achieve.
"There is no future in borrowing. So my ambition is not only to win promotion but then stay there.
"We don't throw money around, we do what we have done from the beginning and we run the club as a business and make sensible decisions for the business.
"Now I am told by many clubs that they envy what we have done here and wish they could do the same.
"It took us a long time to spring clean the club and the organisation around it. We had to lose some senior positions but that was essential to get the club on a sound business footing.
"Then we have left the football to the football experts."
So there you have it. Allam's work is done, he has done all he can to take City back to the top. Now, it's over to Bruce and his boys to get the job done.
