All the Birds had realistically hoped for was one last shot at glory for their twilight legends, and this they managed by avenging last season's Emerald Challenger Cup defeat against Robbie Football Club. They worked their way methodically to a repeat after coming closer than many thought they had any right to against Haha in the main cup, before disposing of Tom Tom Team and then newbies are newbies, in the semifinals. The air hung heavy with nostalgia as the Birds players filed out at Tarpots Rec. to take RFC on once more, and despite Heng Dong Chu's dismissal towards the end of the first half, they would hang onto Salah Kamel's second-minute shocker and a Chan Ze Han second goal, to see it out and lift their seventh Challenger Cup.

This would indeed be the last hurrah for almost all of Grilled's old warriors, as the last generation's icon Tian Yonghang took over from Hilal Bakhtiar as head coach, under orders to clean house. Misplaced sentiment had indeed gotten the Birds nowhere the previous few times their squad had to be regrown, and Tian swung the axe with scarce little respect or mercy. By the end of it, the majority of the club's regulars were on their way out, beginning with Jānis Salmiņš and Sølve Lunde. Kalki Parvathaneni and Heng Dong Chu would wind up together at Tampines Phoenix F.C., as the others - some of whom had fully intended to finish their career with the Birds - set out on their own sunset adventures.

League results could hardly have mattered that much in such an environment, but the Birds still managed a second-placed finish in II.4 with their squad continually thinned, which might be seen as an achievement in itself. Chan Ze Han had a lot to do with that as he did it all as usual, but maybe not as much for once as longtime captain Moey Xin Seng, who looked ten years younger at times as he won his first Golden Boot. To this mature and proven core, Tian would graft a selection of youngsters from near and far, with Aw Keng Chuan, Lau Chu Soon and Chad Thach recruited to join academy starlets Lim An Keng, Mohd Marzuki Khairul and Chia Kwang Tse.

There was less such clarity at Farmer Bunnies, who had their old-new generation having clearly taken over the reins, with Richard Agyei for instance earning his first senior cap for Ghana, right before turning thirty. On the other hand, the likes of 39 year-old Mushtag Al-Nameeri remained holding the fort too, and one would expect head coach Dalibor Kostadinović to have to make a call soon - support his current set by bolstering the midfield and attack, or join the Birds in performing a wholesale makeover.

As it stands, the Buns look unlikely to make it back to Division Two after struggling to a third-place finish, the emergence of Vitaliy Efendiev as an effective standalone forward notwithstanding. Further, the emergence of a bumper crop from the Rancher Rabbits ranks, seems to have made a rebuild only the more attractive. Star-in-the-making Ong Li Jing aside, the Rabbits boast of numerous defensive talents such as Ng Kong Hui, Lau Keng Kwang, Amirul Jufri Khairil and Toh Eng Guang, all of whom are set to emerge within the next couple of years.

Grilled International are in a similar position, as they went for legitimate title contenders in IV.54, to barely surviving in sixth place. With Fausto Perono gone, Hardi bin Besar has become a leader of the line in his own right, but a dysfunctional midfield situation appears to have severely restricted the on-paper nigh-irresistable International attack. This has undermined Didi Reidenbach's previously-solid position after taking over as head coach from Roar Olaisen, and led to calls from the fans to scrap the whole setup and build around hometown favourite Chua Jun Long.