Iain Hume: 'It was probably the best team I've been part of in my career'

His goals and unrelenting work rate made the Edinburgh-born striker a fans’ favourite at several English clubs, including Tranmere Rovers, Leicester City and Preston North End.

The 37-year-old has represented Canada on the world stage and went on to become an unlikely hero of the Indian Super League where he rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s greatest players.

But Hume has revealed on the Champlain Football podcast why the time he spent at Rovers, where he played an important role in the club’s memorable League One title success in 2013, left a lasting impression on him.

Hume had been frozen out at Preston by manager Graham Westley and initially joined Rovers on loan in August until January, a deal that was then extended until the end of the season.

He scored seven goals in 37 appearances for a never-say-die Doncaster team which famously clinched promotion and the title in the most dramatic way possible at Brentford on the final day of the season.

“It was a team and a dressing room, the lot, that was probably the best team I’ve been part of in my career,” said Hume.

“I loved my time at Tranmere and there was a great group of players there, I loved my time at Leicester and had a great group players there and a great group of guys, but the team at Donny was something different.

“We weren’t amazing. And that’s no beating off the players. We had David Cotterill, we had Kyle Bennett, Billy Paynter, Chris Brown, myself, Rob Jones, Tommy Spurr.

“All these guys went on to play at a higher level, in the Championship.

“It was just a proper team.

"If you wanted to go to war that was the team you wanted to go with, because they would fight until everyone was out of it. It was one of those.

“The amount of games we won last minute, the amount of games we had guys coming off with headbands on, scars, cuts and all that, all over the place.

“The amount of times that happened and we’d come away with a 2-1 win or 1-0 win, or stuff like that, it was just a proper team.

“To be a part of it from pretty much the start of the season was the biggest achievement in my career in terms of playing in the UK.”

Hume helped Fleetwood Town win the League Two play-offs in 2014 before he was drafted by Kerala Blasters and later voted player of the season in the inaugural Indian Super League.

He has also represented Atlético de Kolkata and Pune City in ISL and spent time playing in the Spanish Segunda Division with Ponferradina and Extremadura.