Trinity versus Aquinas

Trinity versus Aquinas is a schoolboy rivalry between two of Perth's Christian Brothers Colleges.
Christian Brothers College, Perth was founded in 1894 at number one St Georges Terrace , Perth. The Schools colours where red and black and it was the first Catholic boys school in Perth. In 1905 CBC was an inaugural member of the Public Schools Association and made an immediate impact. CBC Became one the leading secondary educational insitute in Australia with many of its students being leaders in all waks of life from Spiritual , sporting and Academic. It Developed a powerful reputation. CBC grew and prospered but even since the early days it was realised that having a boarding school in what even then was an inner city area was not ideal.
The pressure on the schools physical location was increased following World War One and the Christian Brothers made many attempts to find a suitable location to relocate the boarders. Eventually in 1938, delayed by the Great Depression , the boarding school was relocated to Mount Henry along with some day scholars. The new school was named Aquinas College and took with it the academic and sporting records and school colours of CBC.
The Old CBC was left with most of its history , most of its students and teaching staff and the membership of the PSA , gone.
Under the leadership of Brother P. Duffy CBC was reborn with new colours of green and blue and new enrolments . CBC was a founding member of the ACC (Association of Catholic Schools ). Aquinas' development was hampered by World War II ( as where all schools) and CBC Perth converted its old Boarding sooms into new class rooms. In 1947 a football match was played between CBC Perth and Aquinas College. Surprisingly - CBC won . This was the first match between Blue and green and Black and red.
In 1960 the Christian Brothers negoiated with the Perth City Council to sell the old St Georges Terrace site and relocate the school to a new site in East Perth. The new negotiations where successful and in 1962 the staff and students and all the post 1938 records of CBC moved to the new school , with a new name , Trinity College. The opepening of the new school site and the inscription on the schools foundation stone , claiming to be a continuation of CBC Perth , infuriated many Old Aquinians who saw Aquinas and not Trinity as the rightful heir to the CBC Legacy. This fueled the rivalry.
Regular sporting matches occured between CBC and Aquinas (And all Christian brother schools in the Perth area) throughout the 1940s , 50s and 60s. In 1968 Trinity entered the PSA which meant that the annual Trinity versus Aquinas clashes had new meaning. As the only Catholic schools in the PSA competition a Trinity - Aquinas sporting contest has something of an East Fremantle versus South Fremantle derby feel. A somewhat class consicousness is also at hand in these matches - sometimes derisively dismissed as the Poor Micks versus the Rich Micks.
To this day great crowds turn up to see a Trinity - Aquinas match especially in football when boths schools First XXVIII are performing well. Presently the Headmaster of Trinity is an Old Aquinian and the Headmaster of Aquinas is a Trinity Old Boy. The links and ties are as strong as ever whilst the rivalry is white hot.
Memorable Moments
Trinity winning the 1972 PSA Athletics carnival - defeating Aquinas who had won the last seven in a row.
Aquinas defeating Trinity by 5 points at the 1986 PSA Athletics and stopping Trinity going back to back.
Trinity defeating Aquinas by one point - at Aquinas - to win the 1983 PSA Football Trophy
Aquinas defeating Trinity by 45 goals in PSA Football in 1993
Aquinas winning the 1997 Head of the River by 1.2 seconds defeating Trinity who had won every lead up regatta.
Trinity winning the 1998 Football title against Aquinas in front of a crowd of 2000 at Aquinas.

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