Some had thought this Grilled Birds squad good enough to return to Division Two, and for the first eleven rounds of the league, it definitely looked that way as the rampant Birds blew away all comers. One tiny problem, though - Phantasm Hotspurs were right behind them with their only lost points being an away 2-3 at The Cooking Pot, which would be returned with interest back home as Foong Seng Wee led them to a 6-0 whitewash. The Birds had been unable to keep up with the Hotspurs' fantastic attacking prowess otherwise too, and having already slipped up 1-3 to Controlar right before this decider, it was over for the Birds.

Chan Ze Han remained an unextinguishable bright spot, as he pulled not a few fans to games, through his on-pitch charisma and otherworldly scoring skills alone. He would run up an incredible 23 goals, if aided by the assignment of penalties and free-kicks, which was a feat unseen at The Pot since Ola Martinsson did the same 62 seasons back, and of course Tim Hobson's legendary 27-goal haul four seasons before Martinsson's run. Few had thought it feasible in the modern Singapore leagues, which had certainaly become tighter and more competitive than in the old days, but a 36 year-old Chan made a mockery of such logic with his eye for the net, from every conceivable angle.

Joe Reece came of age too as a second striker, reaping a respectable eleven goals for himself, and there would be national U-20 call-ups too for Lim An Keng and Mohd Marzuki Khairul, which made it four home-grown youth internationals for the Birds, for this new generation. A lack of true firepower would doom them in their biggest tests against S-League opposition in the cups, however, with St. Xavier's FC first smashing them 7-1 in the main competition, before eventual S-League champions SingaStyle dumped them out of the Sapphire Challenger Cup, through four unanswered goals.

It was another season in the wilderness for the Buns, who had to sweat about survival again, after a terrible first half of the season that saw them lose six of their first seven league matches, the exception being a 2-1 upset of Brighton UK at home. A good draw against leaders Bot Team FC restored heart, thankfully, and they would go on to drop only five more points for the remainder of the fixtures. Early exits in the Singapore Cup to Kampung Reunited and then to Batok Earthquakes saw them contest the Consolation Cup, but even there they only managed to defeat a single challenger in IV.9 club WolfP@CK, before getting dumped 4-1 by FC Phondle in the next round.

Amidst all of this, Vishnu Tallapaka was getting plenty of doubts thrown his way for not trying to strengthen his squad, especially with Edgar Popienia never quite convincing as the offensive solution the club needed - although to be fair, that was a very tall order to fill. Ong Li Jing and Amirul Jufri Khairil would win U-20 caps towards the end of the campaign, to boost the supporters' mood, and the Buns would then suddenly gain two more internationals. Former Rancher Rabbits legend Ho Ah Kian would return out of the blue at 33 years old, but was a guaranteed hit given the confidence and title-winning vibes that he brought. If that were not enough, ex-Uruguay youth international Mauro Fau would be signed up next, to be the Buns' new control tower in midfield.

It was a race between three clubs in the Hattrick International V.56 league for Grilled International, and they finished third in yet another downer of a campaign. It certainly felt like Didi Reidenbach's side was going through the motions at times, with their defence never quite settled, and this would have them lose three of the four games that mattered against main rivals FC Bojons and Amelinho Kickers - and by huge margins at that. International would eventually gain a measure of satisfaction with a narrow home win against FC Bojons on the last day to deny them the title, but that was surely scarce consolation.

There was little to shout about in the cups too, as International crashed out at the second hurdle against Palus Lucius in the H.I. Cup, and then immediately to Comandante Ernesto "Che" Guevara C in the Sapphire one. They then had two big cleanouts in the Consolation Cup, before being stopped 5-2 by Armenia's The Muchit' Budu, to send the fans back into hibernation.