1997-98 To 2001-02: First Division Era
1997/98 saw County playing in the top two divisions for the first time in 60 years, facing the likes of Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Birmingham City, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and many others. However, even before the season had started things had taken a turn for the worse - Dave Jones had been poached by Premiership Southampton, taking goalkeeper Paul Jones & full back Lee Todd with him. Gary Megson left Blackpool to take over the reins, and in his first season County finished 8th, just two places off the playoffs to reach the Premiership - the club's best ever league placing. The season also saw the first of several memorable derby matches with Manchester City, a 3-1 victory at Edgeley Park in front of more than 11,000.
That was as good as things were going to get, however, and the following 1998/99 season saw Stockport finish 16th, winning just 3 of their final 14 matches. A 5-0 defeat at relegated Oxford United on the final day signalled the end of Megson's time at Edgeley Park. The club decided to promote from within and Andy Kilner was soon put in charge. Again, he had an encouraging start to his management at County and by Boxing Day the club were 6th, holding a playoff spot, having picked up another unforgettable win over Manchester City, this time 2-1 at Maine Road. However, the team then went a club-record 19 games without a victory, eventually finishing the 1999/00 season 17th, with two late wins helping stave off relegation. The 2000/01 season saw them again narrowly avoid relegation, finishing 19th overall.
2001/02 turned out to be the club's worst ever at the time. With County already already bottom of the league, a 4-0 home defeat to Millwall saw manager Kilner sacked. Shortly after he was replaced with former England international Carlton Palmer. A 2-1 win over Norwich game some hope, but County then went on to lose 11 matches in a row, another unwanted club record. The Hatters picked up just 3 more wins during the rest of the season (one of these being another unforgettable 2-1 victory over Manchester City, having been 1-0 down with just 5 minutes left) finishing the season with just 26 points, going down on the 16th March, the quickest post-war relegation.
Read more about this topic: History Of Stockport County F.C.
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