Buckley's first season at Borussia Dortmund was largely unsuccessful as he failed to score in 28 league matches. Widely regarded as bad signing, Buckley was loaned to Swiss club FC Basel 1893 for the 2006–07 season. He played his team debut for Basel on 10 September 2006 as Basel won 2–1 at home against FC Zürich in the St. Jakob-Park. After returning in July 2007, Buckley was able to regain his place in the Borussia squad for the 2007–08 season, but fell out of favour after the arrival of new manager Jürgen Klopp.