- Essendon great and Tania married in October 1997
- Were together through hellish drugs scandal at club
AFL all-time great James Hird has split with his wife of 27 years and moved out of their family home in Melbourne’s most exclusive suburb, it has been reported.
The Essendon legend and his wife Tania were together through his highs as arguably the game’s best player at the height of his on-field career, to the shattering lows brought on by the Bombers drugs scandal, which came to a head in 2013.
Incredibly, the couple – who have four children together – have managed to keep their split a secret for more than a year, according to News Corp.
Tania was not wearing her wedding ring in an Instagram post she made for her design business four weeks ago.
She also appears to have taken a trip to Vietnam with their three sons in October last year, posting an image of them together with no sign of Hird.
However, she was wearing her wedding band in another post for her fashion business last September.
Essendon all-time great James Hird and his wife Tania split more than a year ago
The former Bombers player and coach has moved out of their family home in the exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak, it has been reported
Tania and Hird (pictured coaching the Bombers in 2015) stuck together through the devastating effects of the Essendon drugs scandal, which broke in 2013
Hird has only made rare public appearances lately and has endured a roller-coaster ride when it comes to his career.
Last year it was announced that he’ll be returning to TV on Channel Nine’s Sunday night show Footy Furnace with his fellow AFL great, Jimmy Bartel.
Prior to that he suffered another blow in a career full of them when he applied for the head coaching role at the Bombers after Ben Rutten was moved on in 2022 – only to see chairman David Barham opt for Brad Scott.
He was also poised to take the coaching role at VFL club Port Melbourne, but decided to become the director of coaching due to business commitments.
It is not known whether he will continue in the role now that he has landed the job with Nine.
With Hird at the helm as head coach, Essendon were at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in the history of Australian sport, with 34 players found guilty on appeal of taking performance-enhancing drugs across the 2012 AFL season.
He was rushed to hospital in January 2017 after he overdosed on prescription drugs at his Toorak family home, before being transferred to a specialist mental health facility.
Hird (pictured with Tania in 2007) hailed his wife for ‘trying to hold our family together’ as he hit rock bottom after the saga became the biggest story in Australian sport
Tania is pictured without her wedding ring in an Instagram post for her design business which she shared a month ago
Tania also shared this photo of her with the three sons she shares with Hird as they enjoyed a holiday in Vietnam late last year – but the footy legend was nowhere to be seen
Hird opened up about the shattering effects of the Bombers drugs scandal in 2020, revealing he thought about taking his own life when he hit rock bottom
‘I remember sitting on my kitchen floor and everyone’s gone to bed, my wife’s upstairs, the kids are in bed, and I am sitting there, just crying on the ground,’ he said.
‘You’re just grieving for this life you had. As much as I was glad to retire because I’m sick of being sore… there was this grieving process.
‘I really felt for my wife because she was trying to hold our family together.
‘She’s a very proud person and also very defensive of me because she obviously saw me going through a lot.’
Hird successfully took up work with a leading sports management company, before becoming senior coach of his beloved Essendon Bombers in 2011.
Initial success came to a screaming halt in February 2013 when allegations of illegal drug and supplement use by Essendon players were revealed.
Hird was suspended from Essendon in August 2013 for 12 months, following a doping and supplements scandal involving the banned peptide Thymosin-4, which had been used at the club.
He quit as Essendon Football Club coach in August 2015.
