He played at full forward with his local club Castleisland Desmonds but never with the Kerry county team.
Buckley scored a last-minute goal for Castleisland Desmonds in the final of the 1985 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship to defeat St Vincents.
[1] He then moved on to the Galway county team, working as forwards coach under the management of Peter Ford for a year.
[1] Buckley then served as selector alongside Mickey Ned O'Sullivan with Limerick for three years, during which time the county experienced narrow losses in the finals of the 2009 and 2010 Munster Senior Football Championships.
[1] He was not there for Mayo's 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final defeat to Donegal but spent six seasons there from 2013 until 2018.
According to the Irish Independent, "The technique and not just the ferocity of Mayo's tackling, epitomised by that same first half (of the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final), is seen as another Buckley trademark.
"[2] Buckley left Mayo and returned to the Kerry setup after Peter Keane took over as manager at the end of 2018.