As they stepped up in class for a first Premier League season in nine years, it was the qualities which served them so well in the Championship which led Hull City to a 2-0 win that should do wonders for their confidence and far less for that of their many doubters.
There was nothing undeserved about how they defeated Manchester United, with goals from two of their three central defenders, Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy.
And with Hull very active in this summer's transfer market, there ought to be a lot more to come from them.
One opening-day win does not mean they will avoid relegation by any means, but those who laughed off their chances of staying up might just be regretting it. It was certainly the home supporters who laughed loudest on Saturday.
Only having three of their 11 summer recruits in the starting line-up was a good thing for Hull. Over the course of 2026-27 they will need that injection of quality but they absolutely cannot do without the spirit which got them into the Premier League in the first place, and it was on show throughout. Two more debutants came on in the second half.
There is no ego about how Hull play the game but a lot of organisation - never mind the rest of coach Sergej Jakirovic's hugely-impressive tenure, just watching the Championship play-off final would have taught you that.
It is why they should really be hoping that people actually do not sit up and take the notice they should not of this result, but the performance behind it.
At times they were 5-2-3, at others 5-4-1, and at times Oli McBurnie dropped deep to create a 5-3-2 with no one at centre-forward. And perhaps apart from when Nobel Mendy and John Egan needed a quick chat in the early stages, it never looked as if anyone did not know where they needed to be.
PARTY TIME: Hull City's Lewie Coyle, Oli McBurnie and Semi Ajayi celebrate the latter's opening goal (Image: Press Association)placeholder image
PARTY TIME: Hull City's Lewie Coyle, Oli McBurnie and Semi Ajayi celebrate the latter's opening goal (Image: Press Association)
Whilst Manchester United had far more of the ball, Hull went into half-time with double the number of shots on target (four) and more importantly both the goals. It was just like last season.
The white-shirted Red Devils were just starting to get on top when the Tigers went in front.
Debutant Konstantinos Tzolakis made a great save from a Bryan Mbeumo volley in the 13th minute after Nobel Mendy unwisely ducked under a Luke Shaw cross.
A minute late Matheus Cunha steered a shot at the Greek goalkeeper after his team broke down Hull's left.
DEBUT GOAL: Nobel Mendy (32) finds the net (Image: Press Association)placeholder image
DEBUT GOAL: Nobel Mendy (32) finds the net (Image: Press Association)
Tzolakis gave the ball away cheaply to Patrick Dorgu, but his team-mates bailed him out.
But Hull just got on with their job.
Ryan Giles went down the other end and McBurnie's header forced a good save from Senne Lammens.
Elliot Stroud, in his first competitive game in black and amber, won the ball high up the field and Lammens was forced to tip over what might have been a Giles shot from a crossing position.
STARTING OUT: Debutants Elliot Stroud (left) and Youri Tielemans battle for the ball (Image: Press Association)placeholder image
STARTING OUT: Debutants Elliot Stroud (left) and Youri Tielemans battle for the ball (Image: Press Association)
The corner found its way to McBurnie at the far post and although Lammens managed to scramble the shot onto a post, it left him helpless when Semi Ajayi roofed the rebound into the net.
Pumped up long before kick-off, the MKM Stadium was delirious.
Then Hull sat in and allowed the visitors to play ineffectively in front of them.
Lewie Coyle eased Dorgu off a deep cross he would have tapped in otherwise and when Mbuemo's spectacular volley bounced off Mbuemo for a corner, it was close enough to him for a pinned-in Tzolakis to collect calmly.
His 96th-minute catch of a long ball was greeted like a winning goal.
In the 38th minute, Mendy – the only player Hull have paid more money for than they did for Tzolakis – headed in a Regan Slater free-kick.
"Are you watching Joe Cole?" gloated the home fans. Given his pre-match disrespect for Hull and this fixture in particular, probably not, but if he was, he would have quickly put his phone onto do not disturb.
Two-nil up in a monster game for them? Hull have been there before, but even with Marcus Rashford on from the start for the ineffective Dorgu, the second half began in pleasingly low-key fashion from a Tigers perspective.
Matt Crooks just failed to release Coyle despite taking his time over the pass, then found a Mohamed Belloumi ball over the top was closer to Lammens than him.
In the 59th minute McBurnie kept the ball in at the right touchline, then skipped past two challenges despite looking like both falling over and losing the ball on each occasion. But when he spread it to Giles, the wing-back over-hit his pass.
Belloumi flashed a shot over, not quite dipping over. Substitute Cody Drameh dragged one wide.
At the other end Noussair Mazroui stabbed wide on the stretch and Mbuemo cut inside and curled a shot over, but there was little else to report.
Injuries were the only fly in the ointment. That is something else which has carried over from last season, and Coyle and Mendy limping off in particular was a concern.
In the 78th minute Bruno Fernandes released Mbuemo one-on-one with Tzolakis, but the goalkeeper made a good save to his left but the kitchen sink never came off its fittings, even in six added minutes.
This was reassuringly familiar from them. But then, many of the pundits who wrote them off would not know that.
Hull City: Tzolakis; Coyle (Drameh 71), Mendy (Herrington 64), Egan, Ajayi (McNair 64), Giles (Targett 85); Crooks, Slater; Stroud (Millar 71), McBurnie, Belloumi.
Unused substitutes: Phillips, Hjerto-Dahl, Dowell, Gourna-Douath.
Manchester United: Lammens; Mazraoui (Dalot 80), Maguire, Heaven, Shaw; Santos (Sesko 67), Tielemans (Mainoo 67); Mbeumo, Fernandes, Dorgu (Rashford HT); Cunha (Lacey 80).
Unused substitutes: Martínez, Zirkzee, Darlow, Yoro.
Referee: D England (Barnsley).