How a Hampton op-shop became unwittingly tangled in one of AFL’s biggest break-ups

September 7, 2026 — 4:04pmTwo nondescript bags stuffed with old footy guernseys and left outside St Vincent’s de Paul in Hampton might usually go unnoticed.Were it not for a line of eager footy fans outside the op-shop early on Monday, store manager Rebekah might have treated the bags as standard donations rather than a slice of Kangaroos history.Clarkson’s Indigenous Round warm-up top was among the dumped apparel. Instead, the puzzled manager quickly pieced together that the bags had been dumped by four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson.“It hasn’t been put out [on the floor] because we’re a bit unsure what we do with it,” said Rebekah, who asked not to use her surname due to charity policy. “How do you price something like that?”The bags were full of North Melbourne apparel – including a blue coaching jacket and an Indigenous Round warm-up top with Clarkson’s name emblazoned on the back.Hampton Vinnies store manager Rebekah with North Melbourne tracksuits, polo shirts and T-shirts donated by former Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson after he was sacked.Joe ArmaoThey were dumped outside the shop about 3pm on Sunday – just days after North Melbourne’s decision to sack Clarkson with a year to run on his contract, a decision which left the coach “shocked” and “blindsided”, according to an exclusive interview with this masthead.By Monday, the bayside op-shop had, consequently, become unwittingly tangled up in one of the biggest AFL break-up stories of the week, and was filled with fans desperate to scoop up the coach’s abandoned items.“We’re not sure whether it’s going out into the shop or putting it online because I don’t know how we will price it,” Rebekah said.Clarkson left his blue coaching jacket in the pile. “We’re just going to wait and see what our options are.”She said it was a possibility the ex-coach’s wardrobe could be put up for a charity auction, noting the pieces most likely carried a high value.She said a number of celebrities, including television presenters and Melbourne socialites, had left donations to the shop in the past but acknowledged the newsworthy timing of Sunday’s donation.Lizzie, who called 3AW, was one of many who went to Hampton to see if the Clarkson clothes were already on the shop floor.“They’ve been inundated by walk-ins,” said Lizzie, who told the radio station a postman had arrived on his motorbike while she was there, having apparently been hassled by a friend in Queensland to try to nab some of the paraphernalia.Four-time AFL premiership coach Alastair Clarkson.Artwork: Matt Willis“I spoke to Rebekah, and apparently it will be tomorrow or the next day [the clothes are available for purchase],” Lizzie said.“But it might be a combination of online and on the floor. The cool stuff is the T-shirts and the jacket and the pièce de résistance is a T-shirt with the word Clarkson emblazoned on the back which, I think, is going to cause arguments.”More:AFL 2026Alastair ClarksonNorth Melbourne KangaroosFrom our partners