Reading returned to Division One for the 2002–03 season after finishing runners-up in Division Two. A final day draw away at promotion rivals Brentford saw the club promoted. The following season they finished fourth in Division One and qualified for the play-offs, where they lost in the semi-final to eventual winners Wolverhampton Wanderers. Pardew acrimoniously moved to West Ham United the following October and being replaced by Brighton & Hove Albion manager Steve Coppell. Coppell took the Royals to seventh in his first full season with the club, missing out on a place in the play-offs by three points. Reading won the 2005–06 Championship with a league record 106 points, scoring 99 goals and losing only twice in league. Promotion to the Premiership was assured on 25 March 2006, with a 1–1 draw away at Leicester City. The following Saturday, the club secured the title with a 5–0 thumping of Derby County. The 2006–07 season saw Reading make their first appearance in the top flight of English football. Striker Dave Kitson became the first player to score for Reading in the top flight, as the Royals came from 2–0 to beat Middlesbrough 3–2 in their first game in the Premiership. The Royals defied pre-season predictions of relegation to finish the season in eighth place with 55 points, missing out on UEFA Cup football by a single point; Reading turned down the chance to play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the run up to their second season in the Premier League, Reading were invited to take part in the 2007 Peace Cup in South Korea, playing Argentine giants River Plate, French champions Lyon and Japanese side Shimizu S-Pulse. The Royals failed to qualify for the final on goal difference. This second season was less successful and Reading were relegated back to the Championship following a loss of form in the second half of the season. Despite winning 4–0 away at fellow strugglers Derby County on the last day of the season, Fulham's 1–0 at Portsmouth was enough to see the club fall out of the top flight. Reading started the 2008–09 season with a 15 match unbeaten home run until losing to Southampton. In the second half of the season, they struggled to regain the form and slipped down the table before recovering to finish fourth and qualify for the play-offs, where they lost to Burnley in the semi-final. Manager Steve Coppell resigned just hours after the game, being replaced by former academy manager Brendan Rodgers.