County finished in 16th place. Soon after he left Stockport by mutual consent. Stoke City Megson was not unemployed for long, taking the manager's job at Stoke City in the summer of 1999 after the club missed out on Tony Pulis who instead joined Bristol City. Megson arrived at the club at a time when there was a great deal of pressure on the current board to sell the club to new owners. After a slow start to the 1999–2000 season results gradually improved and the team went on a ten match unbeaten run to haul them into the play-offs. However unfortunately for Megson by November the long-awaited takeover bid was accepted in the form of a group of Icelandic businessmen headed by Gunnar Gíslason. They appointed their own man, former Iceland national team manager Gudjon Thordarson. West Bromwich Albion Megson took over as manager of First Division West Bromwich Albion in March 2000, just days before the transfer deadline at the end of the 1999–2000 season. It was 14 years since Albion had been in the top flight of English football, and in that time they had spent their first ever spell (two seasons) in the third tier. Indeed, when Megson was appointed they were in real danger of a second relegation to that level. But he moved quickly to strengthen the team by bringing in several new players. In his first month in charge, Megson received a 28-day touchline ban following his comments to referee Graham Poll after Albion's 2–0 defeat to Portsmouth. Megson was unhappy about a penalty that Poll had awarded to Portsmouth; some years later, Poll conceded that it was "one of the worst penalties I've ever given". Albion nevertheless ensured their safety by winning their final game of the season. The following season Megson took the club into the playoffs, winning the Division One Manager of the Month award for November 2000 along the way. Albion lost to Bolton Wanderers at the semi-final stage, but the following year the club won promotion to the Premier League for the first time, overcoming the eleven-point lead of their fierce local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the closing weeks of the campaign. This achievement earned Megson the Nationwide Division One Manager of the Year award, as well as the medieval title Lord of the Manor of West Bromwich. However, the club was barely prepared for the financial challenges