Brad Rial is a football writer and Hull City fan studying journalism at Hull College.
If there is one thing that Hull City fans will tell you when it comes to supporting their club, it's that they never seem to do things the easy way. And, as the dust begins to settle on a gripping Championship season, these sentiments couldn't ring more true.
With three games to go, City led third placed Watford by six points - a seemingly unassailable lead. Yet, as City so often tend to do, they made fans sweat right until the final minute of the final game. One thing is for sure - the 2012/13 season will live long in the memory.
The first few games of the season left fans wondering if much had changed under Bruce from the previous season. With just one goal scored in the first three league games, and a humbling defeat at Doncaster in the League Cup, it was clear that something needed to be changed.
The signings of Ahmed Elmohamady and Stephen Quinn on deadline day back in August would prove absolutely pivotal in shaping the rest of City's season. Indeed, just a day after the pair joined, City fans were given the first glimpse of the new 3-5-2 system against Bolton. Despite going behind, City played some brilliant stuff and went on to win 3-1, with Quinn grabbing a goal on his debut.
All of a sudden, there was fresh optimism in the air, and the free-flowing football continued as Millwall were dispatched with ease at the KC. A first win at Elland Road in 25 years followed three days later, and City had scored ten goals in three games - a statistic unheard of around these parts in recent seasons.
As we all know, the Championship is probably the most unpredictable league there is, so City were bound to come unstuck at some stage, and three consecutive defeats against Leicester, Peterborough (who came to the KC having lost their first seven games of the season) and Blackpool brought fans back down to earth with a bump.
City's open approach meant that only two of their first 20 games ended all square. Heading into December, they sat in sixth place, pretty much where most fans had predicted. It was in this month though that City really started to turn on the style.
On paper, December represented arguably City's hardest run of games all season. Testing trips to Nottingham Forest, Watford and Derby, coupled with home games against Huddersfield, Leicester and Leeds, offered up a gruelling challenge.
City started the month with two hard-fought away wins at Forest and Watford, with the returning Robbie Brady scoring the winning goal at Vicarage Road. At the end of last season, few fans would have believed you if you'd said that City would pay £2.5m for Brady, such was his indifferent, often erratic form when on loan at the KC last year. Now though, that price looks like a steal, as he has been arguably City's best player since the turn of the year, weighing in with an impressive 13 assists, the second highest in the division.
Equally impressive were City's wins against Huddersfield and Derby, with the victory at Pride Park lifting the Tigers into the top two for the first time all season. A forgettable 0-0 draw with Nigel Pearson's Leicester followed on Boxing Day, before Leeds United were the visitors three days later.
City's performance against Leeds was probably the best I have witnessed in my time supporting the club. They were superior in every single department all over the field, and absolutely battered Leeds for the full ninety minutes. Goals from Corry Evans and David Meyler gave City a 2-0 win, and it could have been double figures. Sone Aluko was unplayable that day, and it is a crying shame that his season was cut short so early. Would City have secured promotion earlier than they did if Aluko had stayed fit? It's hard to say, but he offered City something completely different to anything else they have, and he will prove a valuable asset next year.
Despite City's free-flowing play throughout December, the goals dried up in January. Some fans blamed the notorious Manager of the Month curse, but Steve Bruce responded by bringing in striker Gedo, along with utility man Fathi, from Egyptian club Al-Ahly. The pair arrived from North Africa with a glowing reputation - Fathi's total of 91 Egyptian caps speaks for itself.
It was Gedo though who had the most impact out of the two, scoring in his first four home games, including a brace against Birmingham in a 5-2 win. George Boyd also grabbed two in that game on his debut after arriving on loan from Peterborough. Boyd's signing is another example of Bruce's shrewdness in the transfer market. Some fans questioned where he would fit in, and whether he was too similar to what we already had. The fact is though, there is no such thing as having 'too many good players'. City were bound to pick up injuries and suspensions in the run-in, and Boyd's quality proved valuable towards the end of the season.
It was Boyd's brilliant goal that settled an otherwise poor game at Huddersfield, and set City up perfectly for what was billed a promotion decider against Watford at the KC three days later. Troy Deeney's brilliant goal proved decisive and left fans feeling it would go right down to the wire. Of course, that's exactly what did happen, but it really needn't have from a City point of view.
City responded with back-to-back wins against Middlesbrough and Ipswich, with Robert Koren coming off the bench to score a late winner. Koren is often criticised among City fans for drifting in and out of games, but there is no denying the quality he possesses. The fact that he finished City's top scorer with nine goals perhaps says more about the profligacy of his teammates, but he is a classy player, and his experience will prove vital next year.
Over those two games, Watford could only manage to pick up one point compared to City's six, and promotion was now viewed as a formality. But, this is City after all, and stuttering performances against Bristol City and Wolves threatened to undo all the hard work. However, we went into the final two games knowing that three points would be enough to clinch it.
Some 6,000 City fans made the journey to Barnsley, but it was by far City's worst performance of the season, as they surrendered feebly to a 2-0 defeat. Steve Bruce had one week to get it right and wipe the slate clean in time for Cardiff.
The sense of anticipation was palpable in the week leading up to the Cardiff match. A mixture of nerves and excitement encapsulated the city in the run-up to the game.
May 4, 2013, will sit alongside May 24, 2008, in Tigers folklore for years to come. It was a day full of twists and turns. Nick Proschwitz and Paul McShane, perhaps the two unlikeliest of heroes, scored the goals that looked to have handed City the three points they craved. However, the craziest of endings left City fans thinking they'd blown it, with first Proschwitz missing a penalty, and then Cardiff scoring one of their own in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
For the first, and probably last time, City fans found themselves celebrating a Leeds United goal, with Ross McCormack scoring a last minute winner at Watford. Fans, players and staff alike danced in jubilation as promotion was finally confirmed after a rollercoaster ride of a season.
• Gallery: The story of Hull City's promotion season in pictures
• Seven matches that turned the season
