Ah the 2000s, when ITV showed top flight football highlights (Andy Townsend's tactics truck and all), Pop Idol got more votes than the general election and Myspace ushered in a newfangled world of social media.
As for the Premier League, it had become a juggernaut already, and this week fans have been reminiscing about the era by recalling some of the most memorable players of the era, dubbing them 'Barclaysmen'.
The term relates to the sponsor of the league, which from 2001 to 2016 was called the Barclays Premier League.
With nothing sweeter than a nostalgia trip, here are six names from the era that reek of being pure Barclays men.
Morten Gamst Pedersen
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The poster boy for the era, the Norwegian is best remembered for his flowing boy band locks and thunderous left foot, and he made scoring worldies his hallmark for Blackburn.
The winger arrived at Ewood Park in 2003 and spent nearly a decade at Rovers, where it felt like all of his 47 goals were goal of the month contenders. Unbelievably was still playing in the Norwegian second division last season, aged 42.
Yakubu
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Long before Mo Salah was anointed royalty, the Premier League's first African king was Yakubu.
The Nigerian made his name scoring goals for fun at Portsmouth before becoming a record signing at both Middlesbrough and Everton and enjoying stints at Blackburn and Reading—a CV that read like a road map of the era. The Yak—as Andy Gray referred to him—was the Barclays men's goal machine.
Jay-Jay Okocha
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So good they named him twice. Jay-Jay was already a star before he somehow ended up at Bolton Wanderers in 2003, having starred for Nigeria in both the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
These were halcyon days at the Reebok, though, and after Okocha bamboozled Premier League defences with his outrageous footwork, he was soon joined at Wanderers by a host of European stars. However, the Nigerian remains the only one to share a dance with Sam Allardyce.
Tugay
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Ewood Park saw some eclectic names during this time, but none controlled a game like this Turkish delight. He was 31 when he moved to Blackburn, but thankfully the midfielder never needed to run, and for eight seasons, strolled around a Rovers pitch while shadows tried to get the ball off him.
In fact, the only time the ball seemed to leave his foot was when he was hitting screamers into the top corner of the net.
Sylvain Distin
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Played over 650 times in the Premier League and was regarded as one of the most consistent and reliable defenders of the era. The Frenchman was part of Portsmouth's FA Cup winning side of 2008 and also turned out for Manchester City and Everton - almost the full collection of 'proper' Barclays clubs.
He never achieved international recognition but did amusingly announce his retirement from international football on Twitter and called his 0 caps a wonderful experience.
Charles N'Zogbia
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Once accidentally dubbed Charles 'Insomnia' by Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear, this French winger was full of frustrated talent and moments of pure quality - almost a blueprint for a host of players of that era.
The winger spent five years on Tyneside before eventually moving to Wigan and then Aston Villa, and also won two full caps for the French national team.