It was a difficult season but not without its rewards for the Birds, as an indifferent league campaign was lifted by a second Singapore Emerald Challenger Cup. The aura of invincibility from two seasons back was well and truly gone, with Grilled falling to six regular season defeats, almost all moreover by three or more goals; indeed, they were underwater by mid-season, and only a five-game win streak saved them from the insecurity of a relegation decider.

Most analysts had it down to the Birds simply returning to their baseline, but the frequent injuries to key personnel couldn't have helped, even if Grilled's deep bench mitigated the worst of it. Early defeats to ~Pollen~ and Batok Earthquakes certainly weren't what the supporters were anticipating, and the emergence of Ramseille Volliard as clear S-League material had them endure a demoralizing double-header.

Keeping to their reputation as a cup team, the Birds only fell narrowly in the main competition to FC Barca Singapore, and that after Kalki Parvathaneni was lost to injury. That inserted Grilled straight into the quarterfinals of the Emerald Challenger Cup, and neither BEDOK 138 FC nor MCFCSS FC provided much opposition. And neither did finals matchup Arcturules, for that matter, as Grilled swept them 4-0 for an eighth national-level trophy, and the first in which they had maintained a clean sheet in the finals.

Further up in the S-League, it was the Farmer Bunnies' turn to test themselves against the best, and while they didn't exactly succeed either, they did outperform the Birds by surviving their first season there. For a moment there, the Buns were bona-fide title challengers too, as they racked up three wins and a draw in their first four matches.

They would then wind up with just the one draw in their next five fixtures, unfortunately, as Dalibor Kostadinović's tactics evidently got figured out. An early exit to Hoseh bo in the Singapore Cup would lead into a run to the semifinals of the Ruby Challenger Cup, but they would then fall against eventual cup and S-League champions Arrogancae. Midfield acquisitions Billy Camperio and Christophe Fouche ended up with bit-part roles, as Farmer Bunnies gave every impression of a confused team, by season's end.

This left the Buns in sixth place with a hurdle to clear, but they then gave themselves hope for the future with a 5-0 dismissal of Kim Tae Hee FC, with Mushtag Al-Nameeri distinguishing himself with a sparkling hat-trick.

Grilled International's belated promotion to the fourth division would finally arrive, and Roar Olaisen's maturing side made quite a few splashes along the journey. The league itself was mostly a non-issue, save for upsets against Manchesthair United and Recife Sport, and it was in cup competition that International got their names out.

A fifth division side romantically making the later stages wasn't unknown, of course, and International would raise only a few eyebrows when they faced Icelandic former H.I. Sapphire Challenger Cup victors San Lustio International down after four rounds - and won 2-1, thanks to strikes by Fausto Perono and Safari bin Hj Jali.

International then went up a division, and again eliminated II.1 favourites FC Pimento, despite Perono getting sent off in the 36th minute. The media would begin picking up on these plucky little upstarts, as they were set against top division club Io sono leggenda... only for Bosnian striker Ragib Banović's stock to hit the stratosphere, with a hat-trick in a 3-1 shocker.

This couldn't go on forever, and International's story would then come to an end against FC Kokaviidika, but one likes to imagine that it would be recounted for some time yet.