Late Dinner
The end-of-season prize ceremony for Season 87 would be postponed to the first week of the next one due to scheduling conflicts, but none of this would detract from Grilled Birds' feat of a perfect league campaign in Division Three. Key to this achievement would of course be recently-capped Icelandic international forward and Golden Boot winner
Gústav Thoroddsen, who had no real competition as the Birds' Player of the Season. This was despite
Phua Ming Xin's own outstanding record of better than a goal a start, and some titanic efforts from
Brian Reddy and
Ha Qicai at times, which spoke loads as to just how overwhelming Thoroddsen was.
The Young Player version went to 18 year-old academy defensive midfielder Derick Chiou, who is currently very much putting himself in the window for a potential move. Other contenders would be winger Lee Huat Wei, forward Lee Aik Yau and just-graduated centreback Ilham Abd Rahim Zafar, but Chiou's dependability won out.
Farmer Bunnies'
Mauro Fau claimed his second POTY award for being the club's heartbeat in midfield, although the likes of
Amaya Ravula,
Amirul Jufri Khairil and
Ho Ah Kian had plausible claims, in a relatively quiet season.
Arun Ponnusamy claimed the youth gong in his last year of eligibility with solid showings throughout, with
Judah Cho the other real option from the senior squad. 18 year-old temp-contracted midfielder Anil Ekbote would be a dark horse, with plenty of unfulfilled potential waiting in the wings, with the Rancher Rabbits.
There were zero surprises as
Chua Jun Long collected his fifth personal trophy from Grilled International, as he utterly dominated the scene with twenty goals from nineteen starts;
Leri Bezhanishvili and
Umut Koza had objectively great seasons too, but as with Thoroddsen for the Birds, theirs just wouldn't stack up against the competition. Iranian winger
Mohsen Zeynali had little enough to stand against for Young Player recognition, as Teuku Tanis, Li Tian Chi and Chu Jian Fu impressed at U-19 level, but not overly.
The main ceremony over,
Tian Yonghang would then preside over the elevation of the soon-to-be 45 year-old
Gilbert Webb to the Hall of Fame, with longtime servant
Prokop Mottl officially announcing his retirement. For Farmer Bunnies,
Vishnu Tallapaka inducted the 46 year-old Middle Eastern pairing of
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany and
Mushtag Al-Nameeri, while
Didi Reidenbach retired one-club men
Subhi bin Hj Ahmad and
Abdul Hamid bin Hj Ali Timbang.
"It had to end someday." the forty-one year-old Mottl mused wistfully. "Time to return to the Czech Republic and work on those coaching badges."