The Birds would be blocked from promotion again by a near-unbeatable Good Luck FC, but this campaign would be a memory of what might have been for many of their fans, who saw what might have been Chan Ze Han's last hurrah as a regular starter cut short on opening day. Good Luck FC might have won 5-4 then, but in putting the Birds' icon out for the first half of the season with a calf injury, they had dealt far more lasting damage for Grilled.

That did at least give Tian Yonghang and excuse to retrieve former academy star Phua Ming Xin from Switzerland for close to five million, and in spite of the huge boots that he had to fill, Phua did just as well as could reasonably have been expected. His unusual modesty did not really befit a central striker, but once he bedded in, he would become Grilled's top scorer with twelve goals in seventeen competitive starts.

By then, the Birds were lagging badly as costly draws with KickzFC and Controlar followed the opening day defeat, and although Grilled would go on a very impressive streak of ten consecutive wins after that, it would be too late to catch Good Luck FC, who had suffered just a single defeat in the entire span. The final-day reunion was then simply an opportunity for the Birds to prove themselves, but they instead got wiped 1-6 at home, leaving them no possible complaints about Good Luck FC's title credentials.

Grilled Birds would last four rounds both in the main Singapore Cup and the Sapphire Challenger Cup, with Singapore Red Dragons dropping them 3-2 in the former, and Galactic Eagles CF stopping them from reaching their first finals in some seasons, with a solid 3-1 result. Federico Parada would continue to be a bright spark as he grew into a reliable team leader, on the brighter side, and Tian would spoil the supporters further with his bringing back of star winger Brian Reddy for S$14 million, to make a formidable wide pairing for the new campaign. Moey Xin Seng would cheerfully vacate his Number Seven shirt for Reddy, but the transfer would also see the departure of cult hero Enrique Baena, whose chances at a starting spot were severely curtailed. Baena would not do badly out of his own move, though, as he was picked up by recent Finnish Mestaruussarja champions, FC Kyou.

It was more of the same for the Farmer Bunnies, with head coach Vishnu Tallapaka pleading for patience with his new proteges. There were some hard times as the Buns struggled to find goals despite the presence of Ho Ah Kian, with old faithful Vitaliy Efendiev too often out injured, and Edgar Popienia not exactly firing on all cylinders either. Mauro Fau's steely aura in midfield would shield their young and learning backline, fortunately, and they would eventually sneak into fourth place despite some late stumbles. The Buns' proudest result of the season would have to be their holding FC Sattarian Island to a single goal, as the Islanders romped to a perfect 42 points.

The Cup saw them dumped out in the second round via the Singapore Big Dogs, who would go on to repeat the trick in the fourth round of the Ruby Challenger Cup, leading to only too many dogged puns. Then again, it was not like the young Buns were expected to seriously challenge, and the fans would have Toh Eng Guang's winning of a national U-20 cap to cheer them; it could have hardly happened to a nicer guy.

If the Buns were fumbling about, it was even worse for Grilled International, for whom even their staunchest diehards would have to admit had no direction at all. Didi Reidenbach had muddled through so many protests against his management that they barely had an effect any more, and they would breeze through the rest of the clubs in V.56, only to fall flat when it mattered against Amelinho Kickers, despite one memorable victory over FC Bojons.

The French side would eventually go up, as International swiftly crashed out of two cups, before proceeding for three rounds in the H.I. Consolation Cup. New Sri Lankan goalkeeper Darshana De Abrew was not the happiest of campers after he got let down by International's lackluster defending once too often, as Chua Jun Long and Umut Koza continued raising their profiles with close to goal-a-game finishing. Phua Li Kong developed well too, but it remains to be seen whether they will be enough to get International climbing back up the ranks.