- AFL legend selling over 200 football items
- Includes 2002 AFL Grand Final jersey.
- He has opened up about his anguish over selling his memories
AFL legend Nathan Buckley has opened up about his heartbreak after being forced to auction off some of the best memorabilia from his brilliant football career due to his ‘traumatic divorce’.
The Collingwood hero has spoken about the sad reality of seeing his memorabilia as “commodity”, with more than 200 items sold as part of his costly split from ex-wife Tania Minnici, whom he split from in 2020.
Among the items on offer are your grand final shirt thanks to his best on-field effort in Collingwood’s 2002 defeat against brisbane.
As a result of the separation, the couple divided their entire catalog of memorabilia and he had to buy back his 2003 Brownlow Medal and his 2002 Norm Smith Medal for an undisclosed sum.
“Some things are collected from a lifetime in the game and these elements are the sum of the last 30 years in football,” he told the Herald Sun.
Nathan Buckley has opened up about the heartbreak of selling his precious memorabilia.
Buckley is selling more than 200 of his prized items as a result of his divorce.
‘Unfortunately, all of this has been dragged into the property settlement of my recent divorce and will be settled.
‘Fortunately, I was able to, in fact, buy back my medals after they were appraised. It’s a crazy world!
“I have never seen these items as merchandise and I thought that over time they would be returned to the clubs or institutions I represented at the time. I still hope this will happen.”
Auctioneer Charles Leski said: “This collection, sold under difficult circumstances, gives us a rare insight into the life of a sporting hero.”
It comes as the man known affectionately in football circles as ‘Bucks’ said parting ways with Tania has been arduous.
She has since found love with business manager Brodie Ryan after previously dating cosmetic nurse Alex Pike.
“The most traumatic thing that’s happened to me recently was the breakup of my marriage,” Buckley said in an interview with news corporation last September.
‘The two most important things for me were family and football.
Among the more than 200 items up for grabs is the champion midfielder’s AFL grand final jersey from his best on-field effort in Collingwood’s 2002 loss to Brisbane.
The former Lions and Pies great has moved on with Brodie Ryan (pictured together)
“When the family element started to fall apart, my immediate family, I gave even more to football.”
Buckley added that he was grateful his AFL teammates were there to help him and said they helped him get his life back on track.
He also admitted that he is still struggling to let go of the past, as he still struggles with “a lot of emotion,” “a little bit of anger,” and “still a little bit of mourning.”