A raft of players have gone on to become Premier League stars after plying their trade for Cardiff City or Swansea City further down the football pyramid.
The English Football League was re-branded in 2004, and the 2000s were a period in which both Swansea and Cardiff thrived.
The Bluebirds gained promotion under Lennie Lawrence in 2003 as well as reaching an FA Cup final under Dave Jones while the Swans rose up through the divisions in addition to winning the Football League Trophy in 2006.
To celebrate those who have given so much to the game below the top flight, FourFourTwo have put together a list of the 25 most influential players from outside of the Premier League from between 2000 and 2009.
And there are some very familiar names on the list.
In 25th place is Swansea legend Lee Trundle - now a club ambassador - who lit up the Vetch and the Liberty Stadium for a number of years during the remarkable journey up to the big time.
As for the Cardiff faithful, there are three very familiar names that feature.
Rob Earnshaw was ranked in 20th place while Peter Whittingham - who tragically passed away in March - and Jason Koumas were listed 18th and 10th respectively.
One place ahead of Koumas was Wales and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale who played for Southampton in the Championship prior to joining Tottenham in 2007.
See FourFourTwo ’s full list below.
25 LEE TRUNDLE
24 DAVID NUGENT
23 DEAN WINDASS
22 SYLVAN EBANKS-BLAKE
21 ROBERT PROSINECKI
20 ROBERT EARNSHAW
19 DARREN BENT
18 PETER WHITTINGHAM
17 LEIGHTON BAINES
16 MARCUS STEWART
15 DAMIEN DUFF
14 ANDY JOHNSON
13 SHAUN GOATER
12 STEVE SIDWELL
11 MATT JANSEN
10 JASON KOUMAS
9 GARETH BALE
8 KEVIN NOLAN
7 PHIL JAGIELKA
6 TIM CAHILL
5 EIDUR GUDJOHNSEN
4 KEVIN PHILLIPS
3 PAUL MERSON
2 LOUIS SAHA
1 ALI BENARBIA
