Old TrinityGrammarians

Trinity Grammar School, Kew was founded in 1902, and opened to students - all boys - the following year. The Old\n\nOld Scotch-Old Trinity Grammarians\n\nGrammarians Association, which eventually gave rise to the football club, was established in 1909.\n\nAn Old Trinity team was a member of the VAFA, and its precursor competition, the Metropolitan Amateur Football League, from 1923 to 1934, joining forces with Old Haileybury for the last seven of those seasons. The side did not win any premierships during its first incarnation, but did finish runner-up to Murrumbeena in B Section in 1924.\n\nTwenty years after folding, Old Trinity re-emerged and was admitted to E Section of the VAFA. Now officially known as Old Trinity Grammarians, the side reached the finals in its second season, ultimately finishing third. However, life after that proved to be extremely difficult for more than a decade, and it was not until 1968 that the side finally achieved promotion to D Grade after a 4 point grand final loss to AMP Society. This achievement was a prelude to some sustained success which saw the side clamber from the relative obscurity of D Section to the top echelon of the VAFA in just half a dozen seasons. Two of the three promotions attained during that time were doubly satisfying in that they were supplemented by premierships. In 1970, Old Trinity trounced Fairfield by 55 points in the D Grade grand final, and four years later held of a determined Monash Blues by 10 points in B Section. As has proved the case ever since, however, A Section proved too tough a nut to crack. Indeed, Old Trinity has only once contested an A Grade finals series. That was in 2004, when it reached the preliminary final, only to succumb by 7 goals to St Bernard’s.\n\nB Section has been another matter entirely, however, and Old Trinity’s tally of five premierships at that level has only been surpassed by Old Melburnians. The fact that the last four of the side’s B Grade flags were all achieved in the 1990s gives credence to the notion, which recent performances in A Section have reinforced, that Old Trinity is a club whose time is soon to come. Since achieving promotion in 1999 after a 13.9 (87) to 7.12 (54) grand final victory over Melbourne High School Old Boys, the side spent nine seasons in A Grade without ever seriously threatening to win the flag. In 2006, its tally of 8 wins was never going to challenge for finals participation, but was still good enough to avoid relegation to B Section with some comfort. Things were much more nerve-wracking twelve months later, however, as Old Trinity finished eighth, and only managed to escape the relegation trap door on percentage after finishing with an identical 6-12 win/loss record to ninth placed St Bernard’s. The stay of execution was brief with the 2008 season bringing demotion to B Grade, but thankfully the club’s involvement at that level was equally brief with promotion back to A Section being immediately procured following a losing 2009 grand final clash with Old Melburnians.