But football, as Jimmy Greaves said, can be a funny old game and, after seven matches, Hull have reached the dizzying heights of third in the table, ahead of mighty Manchester United and Chelsea. In doing
so, they have beaten such illustrious names as Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United and confounded their critics.

It's a position that not even the most optimistic Hull fan could have dared hope for. In fact, some supporters are still pinching themselves, convinced they will wake up any minute to find it's all been a dream and that they are in fact playing Macclesfield Town in League Two at the weekend.

There is, of course, a long way to go and plenty of time for things to go pear-shaped, but for a city that normally only tops the league of worst places to live, the Tigers' early flourish has put a smile back on people's faces. Not only that but in a city famous for its bridge, William Wilberforce and Philip Larkin, it has given them something else to shout about.

Sport has long been an important component of life in Hull but while rugby league frequently divides people here, football seems to have united them.

Bruce Massie, membership and business manager of the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, has noticed the change in the last few months. "There is definitely a feelgood factor here, people are
walking around with a smile on their face and a spring in their step," he says.

"It's boosted the city's image and it's boosted the morale of people who live and work here. Too often, Hull has been top of the leagues that you want to be bottom of, and bottom of the ones you want to be top of."

Massie, himself a Hull City season ticketholder since 1970, says the team's success has had a knock-on effect off the pitch. "Businesses want to get involved with the club and it brings more people into the area. But perhaps the biggest thing is the fact that around the world the reputation of the city has risen a hundred-fold, so people in places like Venezuela and Papua New Guinea now recognise the name Hull."

For long-suffering fans like Massie the recent upturn in the club's fortunes is long overdue. "We've been locked out the ground, we've been in receivership and in the '90s we ended up in the High Court. At one point the fans had to go round with a collection bucket to pay the players' wages, so to see this transformation is incredible."

Hull itself has been the butt of countless jokes over the years, having been voted at one time or another the dullest, worst and stupidest place to live in the country. But Massie says this is an unfair reflection on the city and points out that affluent areas such as Hedon and Cottingham often aren't included in statistics because they sit just outside the city's boundaries.

Hull North MP, Diana Johnson, says the footballing "revolution" in the city began six years ago when the £43.5m KC Stadium was unveiled, and says the club's early-season success has proved the doubters wrong. "A lot of MPs said to me that Hull would last for one season and that would be it, they said once we played the big teams then we'd see – well, now we have seen."

It isn't only in the sporting arena where Hull is flourishing. The £165m Humber Quays development, which includes the new World Trade Centre Hull building, is creating an impressive new business district, while the Humber Street area, home to the city's fruit trade for nearly 200 years, is in the middle of a £100m regeneration.

In August, a £250m centre of excellence for cancer patients opened at Castle Hill Hospital, and next year the highly acclaimed Hull Truck Theatre will move into a new £14.5m home.

Although Hull is not immune to global market forces and job losses, public and private sector regeneration in the city has not been halted by the credit crunch. "Despite the current economic climate we have seen a number of projects coming on-stream. There has been a lot of regeneration around public services and we're seeing all our secondary schools being rebuilt or refurbished," says Johnson.

Dr Peter Clough, head of psychology at Hull University, says the football club has become the "heartbeat" of the city. "If you listen to conversations in the pubs or out on the streets, everyone's talking about Hull City.

"There is a real buzz about the place, it has given people a sense of pride and there is a sense of basking in this reflected glory, but it's more than that. At the start of the season most people's expectations were fairly low, but the feelgood factor has been ramped up because nobody was expecting it and it's happened at a time when the news is full of economic doom and gloom."

It might seem obvious that people are happier if their local team is winning, but Dr Clough claims there's a difference between "big" clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United, who expect to be successful because of their financial clout, and ones like Hull City who win against the odds. "Most primary schools here had a Hull City day after the club was promoted, where the children dressed up in Tigers colours, and you get the feeling that the football team is very much a community club, which you don't get everywhere," he says.

"I was driving home last night and I saw at least half-a-dozen people wearing sweatshirts with 'Hull' written on them and they weren't football tops. I don't think I've seen that before in other cities, I've certainly not seen it in places like Leeds or Sheffield."

Dr Clough believes the renewed air of optimism in the city is here to stay. "Sport has always been important in Hull. Its rugby league teams have been successful in the past but they've not had the same national impact, which is why it's important for the football team to do well. This isn't a trivial phenomenon, I think it has re-invented the city's identity," he says.

"Hull's renaissance has been slower than other cities and in the past there's been a feeling that it's a place that often gets forgotten. But if you look around, there's a new shopping centre and waterfront apartments being built, it's just needed that bit of success to spark things off and I think we're seeing that happen now.

"We have suffered flooding and economic problems in the past and this has united everyone. It offers an antidote to the recession, Hull is going in a different direction to the rest of the country and I reckon it must be one of the happiest cities in the UK at the moment."