Stanca repeated his third-place finish, but it might well have been first had Grilled held on for just fifteen more minutes in their final game against heimu XI. As it was, they conceded an equaliser, and CharlesCheesePie went from fourth to first to clinch the title.

It was once more an unappetizing start, as the Birds kicked off with a horrible 1-6 home defeat to heimu XI, their heaviest in years, but The Cooking Pot soon regained its stature as Grilled won all six remaining home fixtures by at least two goals. The pace really picked up by mid-season with back-to-back wins against then runaway leaders Siegmund United, as Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim threatened to scoot off with the Golden Boot, helped by an incredible four-bagger against Shining Lights.

That personal accolade would go to Chow Ying Lee in the end, as Mohd Safri's former U-20 colleague went on a hat-trick binge. Unfortunately, Lights' 5-2 revenge at home broke Grilled's five-game league winning streak, and while the Birds beat Phantasm Hotspurs to enter the final day with the title still within reach, heimu XI's defensive strength was too much for the players.

With another uninspiring Cup run ending in the fifth round, and their tournaments too inevitably ending in disappointment, the only other bit of excitement came with the capture of former U-20 midfielder Woon Shun An from PPP Wonders for S$4.6 million, as Stanca slowly but surely pieces together the parts of his envisaged future unstoppable wrecking machine, which would also require Grilled's backbone of forwards to begin cross-training in midfield.

This however spelt the end for the brood of just-shy-of-top-tier youngsters that the Birds had been painstakingly cultivating for seasons, as talents like Neo Da Teck and latest Young Player of the Season Mayur Gudivada were asked to leave, even as former Chicken Wings favourite Leong Wan Kang made a return.