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 bombshell split with wife Tania, who has been pictured for the first time since the news went public as she went on a golf outing with two of their sons.

The end of the couple’s 27-year marriage shocked the footy 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 been telling his friends there was no infidelity involved in the decision to go their separate ways – and that he still treasures the woman who stuck by him through the Bombers drugs scandal that drove him to the brink.

‘He is telling friends that he will always love Tania,’ the source revealed.

‘James thinks she has done an amazing job of raising their kids.

‘Neither one of them has cheated, there’s no third party involved, but after 27 years they’ve 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 with James was revealed

A source close to the Hird family has told Daily Mail Australia that the relationship break-up had nothing to do with cheating on anyone’s part

The source also revealed that James is telling his friends he will always love Tania

The couple are pictured together at the Federal Court during a hearing into the Essendon drug scandal in 2014. Tania was the footy legend’s rock during the incredibly stressful time

‘Tania was his rock when he went through the peptide scandal [at Essendon] and he’ll be forever grateful for all the support she showed him.’

Another source with ties to the Hird family said the couple were eager to keep their parting of the ways out of the spotlight until all of their children – Stephanie, Tom, Alex and William – had finished school.

That source also maintained there was some tension between James and Tania over his interest in returning to the footy world as he was tied to a coaching position with the Port Melbourne club last year.

Tania – who left telltale signs online pointing to the breakdown of the marriage – was sighted enjoying a round of golf with sons Alex and Tom on Tuesday.

In pictures taken exclusively for Daily Mail Australia, the lawyer turned fashion mogul was seen at the Burnley Golf Club in Melbourne’s inner east.

One of the clues she left to the breakup came in an Instagram post for her clothing business Tania Hird Designs, in which she was pictured with her three sons during 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 business, with the band disappearing 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 to take up a new footy-related job in the media.

The two-time premiership winner will be joining Channel Nine’s coverage of the 2025 AFL season on the Sunday night TV show Footy Furnace alongside another great of the game, Jimmy Bartel.

Hird is reclusive and has only made rare public appearances lately and after enduring a roller-coaster ride when it comes to his career.

After earning almost every accolade the game had to offer in a playing stint that saw him star in 253 games from 1992 to 2007, he successfully took up work with 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 hailed his estranged wife for doing an amazing job of raising their four children

His initial success in the role came to a screaming halt in February 2013 when the allegations of illegal drug and supplement use by his players were revealed in a scandal that shook the sport to its core.

Thirty-four of his stars were found guilty on appeal of taking performance-enhancing drugs across the 2012 AFL season.

Relying on Tania as he struggled through endless headlines and hearings, Hird was suspended from working for Essendon for 12 months in a decision handed down in August 2013.

He quit as coach of the club in August 2015, by which time he was so badly affected that he called the Beyond Blue organisation to get help.

Hird was rushed to hospital in January 2017 after he overdosed on prescription drugs at his home in Toorak, and was then transferred to a specialist mental health facility.

He opened up about the shattering effects of the drugs scandal in 2020, voicing his respect and gratitude to Tania.

‘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.

Tania, who worked as a lawyer, left telltale clues online about the break-up of her marriage

The fashion business owner posted this photo showing her on holiday with her three sons last October – with James nowhere to be seen

‘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.’

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, hard to live with, rude at times, and ill,’ he admitted in 2017.

The couple amassed a large business and property portfolio after getting married, including two homes in Toorak.

They sold one of their lavish investment homes for $4.2million in 2015, pocketing a $1.5million profit.

Tania, a former lawyer, started her own hair care brand called HairFlare in addition to her fashion company.

Hird, 51, is regarded as one of the best Australian Rules players ever, winning just about 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 he was named in the club’s team of the century in 1997.