Stoke entered a new era at their 28,000 seater stadium in the third tier of English football with heavy debts of around £5 million and had no manager the future seemed very uncertain. It came as a welcome surprise then when chairman Keith Humphreys appointed former Aston Villa manager Brian Little. And Little's new look side started the season on fire winning six straight matches as it looked like that Stoke would be too good for their Second Division opponents. By November it seemed a matter of when and not if Stoke would gain promotion but their form completely dropped off and just one win was registered from the end of November to March. Chief executive Jez Moxey was now coming in for some serious pressure to resign by the supporters due to the poor finances and with no chance of promotion Stoke finished in 8th place with 69 points. Little had since lost interest way before the end of the season and he resigned in July leaving Stoke to find another manager.

Chief executive Jez Moxey predicted that Stoke would lose around £1 million a year through being in the Second Division, such was the price Stoke had to pay after poor financial mismanagement on moving to the Britannia Stadium. In an attempt to retain fan interest, season ticket prices were froze and chairman Keith Humphreys apologised for the past nine months of "bloody awful football" and he also appealed to the supporter group S.O.S (Save Our Stoke) to lift their ban on season tickets and merchandise. SOS wanted to stave out the current board and force them to sell in order to breathe fresh life back into the club. It came as a welcome surprise then when chairman Keith Humphreys appointed former Aston Villa manager Brian Little. Accepting that there was hardly any money available, Little signed players from the lower leagues such as Bryan Small, Phil Robinson and David Oldfield.

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