 On 23 May 2006 , Coates completed his takeover of Stoke City , marking the end of Gunnar Gíslason 's chairmanship of the club . Coates chose former manager Tony Pulis as Boskamp 's successor in June 2006 . Pulis took Stoke close to a play @-@ off place , however an eventual eighth @-@ place finish was achieved in the 2006 – 07 season . In June 2007 , chairman Peter Coates purchased the Britannia Stadium outright from the City Council for a fee in the region of £ 6m . 
