Angell enjoyed a highly successful 1996–97 campaign, when he was Stockport's leading goalscorer and inspired them to promotion to the First Division, as well as the semi-finals of the League Cup. He scored eighteen goals in 1997–98, helping County to record an eighth-place finish in the second tier. The club continued to survive in the second tier in 1998–99 and 1999–2000. However Angell was loaned out to Second Division sides Notts County and Preston North End in the latter half of the 1999–2000 campaign. He hit five goals in six games for County, and scored eight goals in seventeen games for Preston, who finished the season as Second Division champions.