Cardiff City are facing a crucial summer period where they will be aiming to make the right sort of improvements under Mick McCarthy as they aim to mount a promotion challenge.

The Bluebirds will be frustrated that they were not able to get closer to the top-six in the Championship this term, with their poor start under Neil Harris ultimately telling despite McCarthy doing good work after taking over. The pressure will now be on for him to continue that into next season.

Over the last 20 years, the Bluebirds have had a host of quality players representing them and helping them earn promotion on four occasions in that time. Once from Division 3, once from Division 2 and then twice from the Championship. During that time the club have had a lot of talented English players within their ranks.

With that in mind, we have decided to try and select the top 10 best English players to have played for Cardiff in the last 20 years. There were some tough decisions made over a few so see if you agree with our list…

Before starting this list, it is worth noting that it proved a tough decision to leave out the likes of Ben Turner, Darren Purse, Jordon Mutch, Andrew Taylor and Roger Johnson and a few other English players. They did all enjoy good spells with the Bluebirds in the last 20 years.

However, one player who made the list is forward Cameron Jerome with him having been an impressive performer for the Bluebirds during his spell with the club between 2004 and 2006. He managed to fire in seven goals in 32 appearances in his breakthrough 2004/05 campaign. That showed the potential he had to develop into a quality striker over the coming years.

Jerome really announced his arrival as a key member of the Cardiff squad during the 2005/06 season, with him managing to fire in 18 league goals in the Championship and 20 in all competitions to finish that term as the club’s top scorer. Birmingham City came calling for him the following summer, but the Bluebirds used the money from his sale to sign the likes of Michael Chopra and Stephen McPhail.

The forward then went on to show he could be a real threat in the Premier League at times in spells with the likes of Birmingham, Norwich City and Stoke City.

Another player to make this top ten list is defender Mark Hudson. He manages to make this list having been an excellent servant for the Bluebirds during his time with the club between 2009 and 2015 and played a key role on and off the field with his leadership qualities.

Hudson was signed by the Bluebirds in the summer of 2009 from Charlton Athletic, he went on to make 33 appearances in all competitions for them during his first campaign with the club. The following campaign he was once again a solid performer and made 40 league appearances helping them reach the play-offs with a 4th placed finish.

In the 2011/12 season, Hudson was again a crucial member of the side that once again reached the play-offs with a sixth-placed finish only to end in more frustration.

However, the following year the defender made 33 league appearances as he helped the Bluebirds secure promotion to the Premier League. He did not feature that much in his last two campaigns, but he was a crucial player for the Bluebirds throughout his time with them.

This is another defensive player that had a major impact for the Bluebirds over the last 20 years, with Chris Barker having managed to amass well over 170 appearances for the club between 2002 and 2007 and he was a vital member of the squad for most of that time.

Barker was signed by Cardiff in the summer of 2002 after an impressive season with Barnsley. The defender proved to be a very good signing by the Bluebirds.

He instantly became a crucial player for them making 40 league appearances as he helped them earn promotion back to the English second tier during the 2002/03 campaign.

During the next three seasons, Barker helped the Bluebirds establish themselves back in the Championship and he was a key part of their side making 39, 39 and 41 appearances in the league respectively in those campaigns.

He was loaned out to Colchester United for the 2006/07 season and then was allowed to leave the club in 2007. The defender though was a very good servant for Cardiff.

Another player who makes this top ten list is Craig Noone, who is another player that helped to play a key role in a successful period within Cardiff’s recent history in the last 20 years. The attacker managed to make well over 150 appearances for the club between 2012 and 2017.

Noone was signed by the Bluebirds in the summer of 2012 from Brighton, and the attacker quickly established himself as a crucial member of the squad. He managed to fire in seven goals in his 35 Championship appearances in the 2012/13 campaign to help Cardiff secure promotion to the Premier League. The winger then made 19 appearances and scored three times the following year.

In his last three seasons with the club in the Championship, Noone was a valuable member of the squad and always had the ability to make things happen in the last third when he was at his best. He managed to weigh in with five goals and two assists in the 2015/16 campaign.

However, after being involved in four goals in 34 league games the following year he was allowed to leave the club.

Peter Thorne is one player who makes this list that might not have been widely remembered by a lot of people outside of Cardiff. However, the forward was a consistent enough scorer during his spell with the club and managed to make over 140 appearances for them between 2001 and 2005.

Thorne was signed by Cardiff in September 2001 for a then club-record fee from Stoke City and although his first season with the club was restricted through injury he still managed to fire in eight goals in 26 league games.

The following term, he managed to form an excellent partnership with the prolific Robert Earnshaw up front and between them they fired in 52 goals to get the club promoted.

The forward continued to be a reliable scorer in the Championship following their promotion, and he managed to weigh in with 13 league goals in 23 appearances in an injury-hit 2003/04 campaign.

Injuries once again affected him the following year, but he was once again able to reach double figures for goals in the league with 12, before the decision was made for him to move to Norwich City in 2005.

One of just two Cardiff players that are still currently with the club that will be included here is Joe Ralls. The midfielder has been a magnificent servant for the Bluebirds so far and he has managed to make well over 270 appearances since he made his breakthrough in 2011.

Ralls did not become a crucial member of the Cardiff squad until the 2014/15 campaign, but he had been handed chances to impress in the years before. He managed to make 31 appearances in that season and scored four goals in the process. The next two terms saw him make 43 and 44 appearances in the Championship respectively.

During the 2017/18 campaign, Ralls was a vital member of the Cardiff squad that managed to achieve promotion back to the Premier League under Neil Warnock and he weighed in with seven goals in the process. He was a solid performer in the top-flight but could not help keep them in the division.

Last term, Ralls managed to fire in seven league goals in 27 appearances to help the Bluebirds reach the play-offs. He has continued to be a key player this term and scored five goals and provided four assists in his 39 appearances. The midfielder is sure to be an important option again next term.

Another striker that makes it into this list is Jay Bothroyd, who was a reliable scorer for the Bluebirds during his time with the club between 2008 and 2011 and even managed to earn himself a call up to the England squad during his time with Cardiff.

In the summer of 2008, Cardiff managed to beat off competition from Hull City to secure the forward’s signature from Wolves and he fired in 12 goals in 39 Championship appearances in his first season with the club but could not help them secure a place in the top-six.

The following year, the striker managed to score 11 league goals but that was not enough to take them to promotion.

The Bluebirds would miss out on promotion again the following season despite reaching the top-six for a second successive term. However, Bothroyd was in excellent form for them and managed to fire in an impressive tally of 18 league goals and 20 in all competitions. He left for QPR in the summer of 2011, but was a very good signing and performer during his time with the club.

The other player to make this list that is still currently a member of the Cardiff squad is defender Sean Morrison. He has been an excellent servant for the Bluebirds and a vital part of their side, making over 270 appearances since arriving in 2014.

There would have been few people who would have thought that Morrison would have turned out to be as impressive for the Bluebirds as he has been when he arrived from Reading. However, his strong defensive skills and also his goal-scoring threat from set plays were instantly evident as he fired in six league goals his first campaign with the club.

After two further solid years in the Championship with Cardiff, Morrison truly came into his own for them in the 2017/18 promotion-winning season. He managed to weigh in with seven goals in 39 league appearances and was a rock at the back all throughout that campaign.

Morrison was heavily involved in the Premier League campaign that ended in relegation and has been equally as important in the last two seasons in the Championship. He is a player that McCarthy will know he can rely on to perform next term for them as well.

The penultimate player to make this list of Cardiff’s top 10 best English players in the last 20 years is forward Michael Chopra. He does so having managed to be a very reliable goal scorer for them during his two separate permanent spells and his one loan spell with the club.

Chopra was first signed by the Bluebirds in the summer of 2006 from Newcastle United, and he proved to be a magnificent addition to the squad and managed to fire in an impressive tally of 22 goals in his 42 league games in the 2006/07 campaign. That form saw him earn a move to the Premier League the following summer with Sunderland taking a chance on him.

Things did not work out so well for him at Sunderland, and he was re-signed by the Bluebirds on loan in the 2008/09 campaign when he managed to score nine league goals in 27 appearances.

The following summer his move was made a permanent one and he went on to score 21 goals in all competitions in the 2009/10 season but could not help them get promoted.

Chopra’s final season with the club saw him manage to score nine goals in 32 league games, before he was allowed to leave the club for Ipswich Town the following summer.

It would simply be impossible to do this list and not include Peter Whittingham. Quite simply the midfielder was a magnificent servant to the Bluebirds and is a player that could be in the conversation for being one of the club’s greatest ever performers.

Whittingham arrived at Cardiff midway through the 2006/07 campaign from Aston Villa and he would prove to be one of the best signings the club has made certainly in the last 20 years.

The midfielder was a key performer in his first two-and-a-half seasons with the club and showed signs of growing into the consistent performer he would become.

The 2009/10 campaign proved to be the one where he truly established himself, with him firing in a hugely impressive 20 league goals and 25 in all competitions as the club just missed out on promotion. Two more campaigns followed where he reached double figures, before he netted eight times to help them earn promotion in 2012/13.

His three goals in 32 appearances was not enough to keep them in the top-flight the following year, but he followed that up with another three campaigns in the Championship where he weighed in with vital goals and was a crucial performer before leaving in 2017.