What footy legend James Hird told friends about his shock split with wife Tania – as she’s seen for the first time since their separation made headlines
Footy icon James Hird has told friends cheating is not the reason behind his split from wife Tania, who has been pictured for the first time since the news became public while on a golf outing with two of their sons.
The end of the couple’s 27-year marriage shocked the football world when it came to light on Monday, with the pair somehow managing to keep the end of their relationship under wraps for more than a year.
Now a family friend has revealed to Daily Mail Australia that Essendon legend Hird has told friends there was no infidelity in the decision to go their separate ways – and that he still cherishes the woman who supported him during the Bombers drug scandal. drove him to the edge.
“He tells friends he will always love Tania,” the source revealed.
“James thinks she has done a great job raising their children.
‘Neither of them cheated, there is no third party involved, but after 27 years they have simply grown apart.
Pictured: Tania Hird steps out for a round of golf with sons Tom and Alex on Tuesday. It’s the first time she’s been seen in public since news of her split from James was revealed
A source close to the Hird family has told Daily Mail Australia that the breakup had nothing to do with cheating on anyone’s part.
The source also revealed that James tells his friends that he will always love Tania
The couple are pictured together at the Federal Court during a hearing into the Essendon drugs scandal in 2014. Tania has been the football legend’s rock during this incredibly stressful time.
‘Tania was his source of support when he was going through the peptide scandal [at Essendon] and he will be forever grateful for all the support she gave him.”
Another source with ties to the Hird family said the couple was keen to keep their divorce out of the spotlight until all their children – Stephanie, Tom, Alex and William – had finished school.
That source also claimed there was some tension between James and Tania over his interest in returning to football as he was tied down with a coaching position at the Port Melbourne club last year.
Tania – who left telltale signs online pointing to the breakdown of the marriage – was spotted playing golf with sons Alex and Tom on Tuesday.
In photos taken exclusively for Daily Mail Australia, the lawyer-turned-fashion mogul is seen at Burnley Golf Club in Melbourne’s east.
One of the clues she left to the split came in an Instagram post for her clothing company Tania Hird Designs, in which she was pictured with her three sons on a trip to Vietnam last October – without her estranged husband.
Tania also stopped wearing her wedding ring in the photos she posted to promote the company when the band disappeared in September last year.
It has been reported that James has moved out of the family home in the super-exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak as he prepares for a new football-related job in media.
The two-time premiership winner will join Channel Nine’s coverage of the 2025 AFL season on TV show Footy Furnace on Sunday night, alongside another big-name player, Jimmy Bartel.
Hird has been reclusive and has rarely made public appearances recently and after a rollercoaster ride when it comes to his career.
After earning almost every accolade the game had to offer in a playing period that saw him appear in 253 matches from 1992 to 2007, he successfully joined a leading sports management company before becoming head coach of his beloved Bombers in 2011.
Daily Mail Australia’s source also revealed that Hird has praised his estranged wife for doing a great job raising their four children
His initial success in the role came to an abrupt halt in February 2013 when allegations of illegal drug and supplement use by his players came to light in a scandal that shook the sport to its core.
Thirty-four of its stars were found guilty on appeal of using performance-enhancing drugs during the 2012 AFL season.
Hird relied on Tania as he struggled through endless headlines and hearings and was suspended from work for Essendon for 12 months in an August 2013 decision.
He stepped down as coach of the club in August 2015, when it affected him so badly that he called the Beyond Blue organization to get help.
Hird was rushed to hospital in January 2017 after overdosing on medication at his home in Toorak, and was subsequently transferred to a specialist mental health facility.
He talked about the devastating consequences of the drug scandal in 2020 and expressed his respect and gratitude to Tania.
“I remember sitting on my kitchen floor and everyone had gone to bed, my wife was upstairs, the kids were in bed and I was sitting there on the floor crying,” he said.
Tania, who worked as a lawyer, left telling clues online about the breakdown of her marriage
The fashion company owner posted this photo last October of her on vacation with her three sons, while James was nowhere to be seen
“You’re just grieving for this life you had. As happy as I was to retire because I’m tired of being in pain… there was a grieving process.
“I really felt for my wife as she tried to keep our family together.
“She’s a very proud person and also very defensive of me because she’s obviously seen me go through a lot.”
He also made a raw confession about how the toll of the scandal changed him.
“Over the past four years I have been short-tempered, distant, difficult to live with, sometimes rude and sick,” he admitted in 2017.
After their marriage, the couple built up a large business and real estate portfolio, including two homes in Toorak.
They sold one of their lavish investment homes in 2015 for $4.2 million, netting a profit of $1.5 million.
Tania, a former lawyer, started her own hair care brand HairFlare in addition to her fashion business.
Hird, 51, is considered one of the best Australian Rules players ever. He won virtually every title and accolade the game has to offer in a 15-year career that saw him play 253 games for the Dons.
A member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, he jointly won the Brownlow Medal as the game’s best and fairest player, and was named in the club’s team of the century in 1997.