Sports History

On May 4th 2008, Stoke City secured promotion to the Premier League after 23 years out of the top flight of football. A season-best home crowd of nearly 27,000 were there to witness Stoke City make history.

We on BBC Stoke & Staffordshire covered the whole of the season - gathering interviews, gathering photos and putting together a photo-diary marking Stoke's most successful season in a generation.
Check out all the links on the right-hand side of this page for the facts - and the fun!

Finale

Tony Pulis steered Stoke City to a 0-0 draw against Leicester which secured promotion to the Premier League and relegated the Foxes to League One.

The Potters produced a typically gritty performance at the Britannia Stadium. Stoke bossed most of the match – the only real scare coming when Leicester defender Richard Stearman hit the bar with a looping header with ten minutes to go.

The final whistle was delayed after a premature pitch invasion from Potters fans – already aware that promotion was guaranteed after Hull lost at Ipswich.

Ultimately a point was enough to clinch the Championship's second automatic promotion place and spark wild scenes of celebration from players, management and fans.

Check out the photos from the match on the City Run-in Gallery...

Pulis aims to woo stay-away fans

Stoke manager Tony Pulis thanked the support of chairman Peter Coates following his side's promotion.

Pulis now believes Stoke's promotion will enable the club to tap into a new fanbase and persuade stay-away supporters to return to the Britannia Stadium.

"I think that if you speak to our chairman, he will tell you that we have lost a few generations of supporters because we have been in this division for so long," said Pulis.

"For a club of this size, there has been nothing happening. The club has spent most of its time in the second division and has even been down to the third tier.

"So the people of this city have had a knock. What this club needed was to get back up into the Premier League.

"We will now, I think, generate a new group of supporters around Stoke-on-Trent."