The standard of ESPZEN football has been steadily rising evidenced in the news that three players from ESPZEN Div 1 Champions FC 204, have recently been signed by professional clubs, namely Mr. Muhammad Zakaria Yousif (signed for Woodlands Wellington FC in the S League), Mr. Mikky Amu (now playing in Segunda Division in La Liga, Spain) and Mr. Shadrack Ezeagu (now playing in Viasat Divisionen, Div 1 in Denmark). This follows a steady trend of professional signings from top ESPZEN clubs, for example, Mr. Paul Bekombo signed by S League club Balestier Khalsa FC from former ESPZEN Midweek League team Orchard Rovers FC, Mr. Walid Lounis signed by S League club Home United FC (now playing for Geylang United FC) from past ESPZEN Mid Week Champions Screamin Irish FC and Mr. Obot Udoaka (now playing in Denmark, former Sporting Afrique FC) signed from ESPZEN Saturday League Champions, International Soccer Academy (ISA).

Mr. Muhammad Zakaria Yousif

Mr. Mikky Amu

Mr. Shadrack Ezeagu

Whilst ESPZEN might be the premier platform for Amateur Football in Singapore, more and more ex professionals or even ex international players are now plying their trade in ESPZEN making the league one of the most competitive non professional leagues in this region. Div 1 Ale Vasco FC (and now Div 2 Holland Park 11 FC) boasts Mr. Dalis Supait, Mr. Nahar Daud, Mr. Ishamuddin Bharoocha and Mr. Samawira Basir (ex Singapore National Players and S League players), past ESPZEN Mid Week League Champions Screamin Irish FC have ex S League players in Mr. Esad Sedjic and Mr. Marko Kraljevic, ESPZEN Saturday League Champions ISA have Mr. Nathaniel Naplah (ex Liberian International and ex Tampines Rovers) and Mr. Surachai Jaturapatarapong (ex Thailand National Captain, Home Utd Assistant Coach) as current players and Malek Aweb (ex Singapore National Team), Mr V. Sundramoorthy (ex Singapore National Team and Jurong FC Players / Coach) and Mr Victor Konwlo (a Liberian footballer who has played for Canon Yaound in Cameroon, AS Cannes and AS Nancy in France, AZ in the Netherlands, and Pacos de Ferreira and Caldas in Portugal) as a former players, whilst ESPZEN Div 5 SCC Tigers FC have ex English and Australian professional footballers and now celebrity pundits in Mr. PJ Roberts, Mr. Paul Masefield. Other TV pundits Mr Andrew Leci (ESPZEN Div 5 The Usual Suspects FC) and Mr. Dez Corkhill (ESPZEN Midweek League - 1 Tanah Merah FC), both goalkeepers also have appeared regularly in ESPZEN games. Finally ex English Premier League starts Jason McAteer and Lee Sharpe have also made appearances for former ESPZEN Midweek Team: Orchard Rovers Football Club.

One of the most impressively assembled team would be ESPZEN Div 1 Champions (Season 9) FC 204 and brother team, ESPZEN Div 2 Champions (Season 9), FC PROTEGE 204 ESPZEN, whose playing staff consists of many ex professional players who have played in the top European and Asian leagues.

Dr B Maestro, Manager of both FC 204 and FC PROTEGE 204 ESPZEN, explained that three key factors why many ex professionals (or want to be professionals) choose to play in ESPZEN are the professionalism and excellent organization of the league, it's award winning website, and the competitive standard of football not available elsewhere. More importantly, ESPZEN also provides the best football pitches in Singapore, with some of its recent league games even being played on The Marina Floating Bay. Previous finals of ESPZEN matches have been played at prestigious venues such as The National Stadium and Jalan Besar. Through ESPZEN amateur footballers can play competitive matches, budding professionals can improve their game, whilst ex professionals can continue to compete in their twilight years and pass on their wisdom to the younger players.

ESPZEN leagues are also unique, as the leagues are extremely multi cultural and multi national - over 30 nationalities are currently registered within ESPZEN's 135 teams, which boasts over 3,000 registered players. ESPZEN is the world in a league. During 2008 ESPZEN organized over 1,800 games of football / Futsal.

Readership to the ESPZEN website is an impressive 3 million hits a month from all over the world with the ESPZEN Match Reports rivaling those of the traditional print medias. Looking for the next best thing in football? Head down to an ESPZEN match right now. Maybe, just maybe, a Singaporean Cristiano Ronaldo is waiting to be discovered.