page_title: History of Stoke City F.C.
section_title: 1997–2008: The Britannia Stadium
hierarchical_section_title: History of Stoke City F.C. / 1997–2008: The Britannia Stadium
caption_attribution_description: Stoke City FC V Arsenal 09
context_page_description: Stoke City Football Club has its origins in Stoke Ramblers. A team formed by former pupils of the Charterhouse School whilst they were apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway. The club dropped the Ramblers from their name and Stoke Football club was formed in 1878, and in 1888 they were founding members of the Football League. In 1925, the club's name was changed for the final time to Stoke City Football Club when Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status.
  The club moved in 1997 to the Britannia Stadium, a 28,383 all-seater stadium; having spent 119 years at the Victoria Ground. In the 2007–08 season, Stoke won promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, and as of 2008–09 are playing in the top flight for the first time since the 1984–85 season, when they were relegated with a total of 17 points, a record low unsurpassed for 21 years. Stoke's only major trophy was the 1972 Football League Cup, won when they beat Chelsea 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 97,852. The club have also won the Football League Trophy twice, in 1992 and 2000.
context_section_description: The 1997–98 season saw Stoke move to its new ground, the 28,000 all-seater Britannia Stadium, after 119 years at the Victoria Ground, the longest time spent at a ground by any team in Britain. Chic Bates, Macari's assistant, was appointed manager for the club's inaugural season in the new ground. Bates struggled as his side slipped from a play-off place towards the relegation zone, with the club's bad run culminating in a 7–0 home defeat to Birmingham City. Bates was replaced by Chris Kamara in January 1998. Kamara could not improve the club's fortunes, and he left in April. Alan Durban, Stoke's manager two decades earlier, took charge for the remainder of season. Durban was unable to keep the club up, with a 23rd-place finish consigning Stoke to relegation from the First Division.
  Brian Little, formerly manager of Aston Villa, took charge for the 1998–99 season, and Stoke began the season impressively, holding first place until December with six straight wins. The team's form tailed off in the latter stages of the season, leading to Little's departure at the end of the season. His successor, Gary Megson, was only in the job for four months. Megson was forced to depart following a takeover by Stoke Holding, an Icelandic consortium that purchased a 66 percent share in Stoke City F.C. for £6.6m. The club's new owners appointed the club's first foreign manager, Icelander Gudjon Thordarson, in November 1999.
  Stoke won the Football League Trophy in the 1999–2000 season with a 2–1 win over Bristol City in April 2000 before a crowd of 75,057 at Wembley. Disappointment followed a month later, as Stoke were defeated against Gillingham in the play-off semi-finals, consigning themselves to another year in the third tier. They reached the play-offs again in the 2000–01 season with a fifth-place finish, but this time Walsall halted Stoke's progress at the semi-final stage. Thordarson achieved promotion at the third attempt in 2001–02; another fifth-place finish ensured a play-off spot. Cardiff City were defeated in the semi-final before a 2–0 win against Brentford at the Millennium Stadium secured promotion. Despite achieving the goal of promotion, Thordarson was sacked by Gunnar Gíslason, only five days after the club won the play-off final. A campaign calling for Thordarson's reinstatement was organised by fans, but it proved unsuccessful.
  Steve Cotterill was drafted in as Thordarson's replacement before the start of the 2002–03 season. Cotterill quit in October 2002, after only four months in charge, to take the role of Howard Wilkinson's assistant at Sunderland. The club were close to unveiling George Burley as their new manager after Cotterill's departure; however, a last minute charge of heart led the former Ipswich manager to decline the club's offer. The club acted swiftly and Tony Pulis was appointed as Stoke's new manager shortly afterwards. Pulis steered Stoke clear of relegation with a 1–0 win over Reading on the final day of the season that kept the club in the First Division. The club's position in the league was consolidated in 2003–04. Pulis was sacked at the end of the 2004–05 season, following a disagreement between himself and the club's owners. Dutch manager Johan Boskamp was named as Pulis' successor on 29 June 2005, only a day after Pulis was sacked. Boskamp broke the club's transfer record in signing Sambegou Bangoura for a fee in the region of £1m. Another significant addition was the signing of Belgium international Carl Hoefkens, who subsequently won the Fans' Player of the Year Award for the 2005–06 season. Despite his spending on new players, Boskamp's side was inconsistent and only a mid-table finish was achieved. The season was marred by a feud between Boskamp and the club's director of football, John Rudge, which escalated to the point where Boskamp threatened to quit. Boskamp left at the end of the 2005–06 season, amidst a takeover by former chairman Peter Coates.
  On 23 May 2006, Coates completed his takeover of Stoke City, marking the end of Gunnar Gíslason's chairmanship of the club. Coates chose for
caption: The Britannia Stadium
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