When Phil Brown guided Hull City to the Premier League in 2008, he ruined a generation of quiz books.

For as long as anyone could remember, the question 'which is the biggest English city to not have hosted top-flight football', was answered with Hull City.

The honour, dubious as it is, then passed to Plymouth Argyle and despite many seasons in the second tier, they've never truly got close to shaking the tag themselves.

Had things been different, they might have never come into contact with such a claim, their best finish in recent years came as Hull earned their promotion.

The Pilgrims finished tenth in the Championship that campaign, but any hopes they'd be the next into the Premier League were dashed with relegation in 2010, followed by another in 2011 to plant them firmly in League Two.

It's been a long haul back, but now Derek Adams has got the side playing nice football and, led by the maverick displays of Graham Carey, they came close to a top seven finish in League One immediately after promotion.

This summer Adams has recruited strongly, plucking players from across the Football League to aid his side's evolution.

Peter Grant, Scott Wootton and Joe Riley have all come in to strengthen at the back, as Callum Dyson and Freddie Ladapo arrive to boost the forward line.

Those players will complement the existing squad, rather than replace.

Whilst Carey took the plaudits last season, and rightly so, there's plenty of strength in the squad other than the enigmatic Scotsman.

He may be the headline writer, the man who grabs the plaudits, but behind him is a strong set of players with a stoic and unnerving work ethic instilled into them by the fearsome figure of Derek Adams, the unrelenting former Ross County man.

Plymouth may be a fair way off the top flight just yet, but their history sees them as a second-tier club in the main, something they will feel quietly confident about achieving at the end of this season.

Who is to say that the strong recruitment and incredible team spirit won't see them go one further and become the next biggest city to finally host top flight football.

If they do, another batch of quiz books would need reprinting, whilst the people of Rotherham would shudder at seeing their own name used as the answer to the famous question.

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