FOR those old enough to remember it will always be Raich Carter's swaggering side of 1948-49. For their children, perhaps, it is the 1965-66 team spearheaded by Chris Chilton and Ken Wagstaff that stands above all else.
And then there is Phil Brown, Dean Windass and all that went with it in 2007-08; a groundbreaking campaign that culminated at Wembley with the iconic Championship play-off final.
All are guaranteed to live on through their own timeless legacies but a compelling new rival has arrived to challenge for the crown of Hull City's greatest ever promotion season.
The 2012-13 campaign makes a compelling case.
Under the guidance of manager Steve Bruce, City have achieved a feat beyond any other side in the club's 109-year history.
Automatic promotion to the top flight is a giddy new high for the Tigers and only 2008-09 and 2009-10, the two Premier League seasons, have City finished quite so high up the ladder of English football.
And it was all done with no shortage of style.
Although at times togetherness and resilience were City's primary attributes, most notably inside the final three months, there were also moments when Bruce's men took the breath away. The home victories over Millwall, Leeds and Birmingham, in particular, oozed class and finesse.
Then there was the final day drama, oh that final day drama. Not that the season had lacked it but the charm of an unforgettable afternoon at the KC Stadium boasts an enduring appeal to filter down through generations.
Only time will provide true context for City's season and once settled within the club's history books, the latest chapter can find competition from nine others.
Overshadowed by events in the modern day, last week marked the 80th anniversary of the Tigers' very first promotion.
The 1932-33 Division Three (North) title is hardly the stuff of legend but was still responsible for delivering City's best ever home record in a season of 18 wins, three draws and no defeats, as well as the club record 41 goals of striker Bill McNaughton. Both feats have stood untouched for eight decades and may never be topped.
The same silverware returned to East Yorkshire 16 years later and while few witnesses to that campaign are still around, its glowing reputation is undimmed.
City folklore certainly states it was something very special. With former England international Raich Carter at the helm as player-manager, the Tigers lost just four of their 42 league games and averaged almost 40,000 at the newly-opened Boothferry Park. The 55,109 in attendance for an FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United in February of that season would never be bettered.
A failure to take City on to the next level detracts from the majesty of the post-war period and the same fault-line runs through 1958-59.
Although City claimed promotion out of a non-regional Division Three for the first time, finishing second to Plymouth, relegation the following season taints the efforts of manager Bob Brocklebank.
One campaign with its halo forever shining brightly, though, is 1965-66.
In the months that preceded England's World Cup final win over West Germany, Cliff Britton's galaxy of attacking stars continue to evoke a catalogue of happy memories.
Although Bruce's men went up without a single player hitting double figures, Ken Wagstaff, Chris Chilton, Ken Houghton, Ray Henderson and Ian Butler all managed at least 13 goals apiece in a side that finished with 129 league and cup goals. Put in context, City's last two seasons put together have only returned 117.
It was, of course, done at a less demanding level but the summer of 1966 remains the only time that City have landed a non-regional league title. Translating their two point victories into three, the season would have ended with exactly 100 points in the bank.
Poll resultsWe asked Tigers fans to tell us if they thought automatic promotion was Hull City's greatest achievement. The results were:1) Automatic promotion 2012/13 - 57 per cent 2) Play-off final victory 2008 - 26 per cent 3) Survival in first Premier League season - 8 per cent 4) 1965-66 Division 3 champions - 4 per cent 5) The Great Escape - 4 per cent
Memories of that year were all City fans had to treasure until 1983.
Having plummeted into the bottom tier for the first time in their history at the end of the 1980-81 season, a demise that threw the financial future of the club into doubt, the promotion year of 1982-83 has its merits.
A young side littered with embryonic talent was nurtured and cajoled to claim runners-up spot in Division Four, beaten only by Wimbledon's fledgling Crazy Gang. Just 34 goals were conceded in 46 games, keeping 19 clean-sheets, and for resolve it takes some beating.
Similar plaudits must also go to Brian Horton's 1984-85 side. After missing out on promotion only by goal difference on the final day of the previous season, a fine show of character was needed to restore City to the second tier after seven years away.
City's seventh promotion came back in the basement division of English football in 2003-04 but all that had gone before it gives a runners-up spot in Division Three a lasting appeal.
After a decade to test the patience of a saint, the climb out of Division Three under Peter Taylor was celebrated as wildly as any promotion before or after. The day it all fell into place, with a 2-1 win at Yeovil, is a day none of the 1,800 travelling supporters will ever forget.
A 19-year wait and then two along at once. League One was home for just one year when finishing runners-up in 2004-05 but those achievements were dwarfed within three seasons.
Perhaps the greatest threat to the season that has just passed lurks in 2007-08. For romance alone it will never be beaten. After 104 years of waiting, the club's very first trip to Wembley in the Championship play-off final ended with hometown favourite Dean Windass scoring the most famous goal in City's existence. Pure theatre.
And so to the season that has just finished. It lacked the dazzling entertainment of 1948-49 and 1965-66 and fell short of the emotion that poured out of 2007-08, but for the standards set at the highest level outside of the top flight, Steve Bruce's class have saved the best until last.
Promotion number 10 must surely be considered number one.
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