Nathan Buckley AFL memorabilia goes for almost $200,000 at divorce auction, see what sold

AFL legend Nathan Buckley has snagged almost $200,000 selling some of his most prized pieces of sporting memorabilia at auction this week.

The former Collingwood skipper and coach was forced to put more than 200 items under the hammer at Melbourne’s Leski Auctions as part of the terms of his divorce settlement with his wife of 18 years Tania Minnici, after the pair split in late 2020.

Match-worn jumpers, playing socks, tracksuits, signed footballs and playing cards are among more than 200 items listed in “The Nathan Buckley Collection” by Melbourne auctioneers Leski Auctions on Wednesday, which saw a flurry of bidders splash almost $192,000 for the collection.

Among the treasure trove was the guernsey Buckley wore in his historic Norm Smith Medal-winning performance in Collingwood’s 2002 grand final loss to the Brisbane Lions, which sold for $16,000, to bidder 515, the highest from the collection.

Another of Buckley’s best-on-ground grand final guernseys — the prison bar lace-up jumper he wore in Port Adelaide’s SANFL victory over Glenelg in 1992 — sold for $12,000 at auction.

The signed and framed “composite guernsey” made from Collingwood, Adelaide, and Sydney colours to commemorate the Brownlow Medal three-way tie between Buckley, Mark Riccutio and Adam Goodes in 2003 also sold for $12,000.

Bidders also snapped up the Collingwood great’s footy shorts, kit bags, a Brisbane Bears branded Driza bone from 1993 — which sold for $360 — tracksuits, and signed Sherrins from Buckley’s milestone games.

It has since been revealed that a familiar face was among the buyers who splashed their cash to claim a piece of AFL history.

The Collingwood Football Club — where Buckley spent all but one year of his 13-year playing career, and was an assistant coach in their 2010 Premiership victory — made a surprise appearance and purchased a number of items in the auction, 7NEWS revealed.

It is understood Collingwood purchased the items to display at the club’s museum.

More than 750 people registered for the auction — double the typical number of bidders Leski Auctions sees at its sports memorabilia auctions.

Before the fire sale, auctioneer Charles Leski said Buckley was “unlikely” to ever sell the prized possessions were it not for the end of his marriage in 2020.

He told The Nightly he worked closely with Buckley and historians at Collingwood to produce a catalogue that would “tell a story” about “a hero of the game”.

“He was an extraordinary player and achieved extraordinary things and it was important to pay homage to one of the greats of the game,” the auctioneer said.

Mr Leski said that although the catalogue went live on Friday, April 12, it has already drawn 30,000 views — tenfold the number other pages of sporting memorabilia for sale often draw.