Allan “Skill” Cole, a close friend and road manager of reggae legend Bob Marley and former Santos and Jamaica football hero, has died.
Cole’s family confirmed his passing late Tuesday evening as the Reggae Boyz were getting ready to face Trinidad and Tobago in their Group B World Cup qualifier match. His daughter, Debbie Cole, broke the news via a post on social media, remembering him as a family man and a true Jamaican patriot.
Allan Cole, who played as a midfielder, was one of the first Jamaican footballers to make a mark on the global stage. He played for Santos and also represented Jamaica’s international football team, earning the nickname Skill for being a gifted footballer on the pitch. He also played for clubs in the United States in the 1960s, in his rise to becoming the most popular sports icon in Jamaica in the 1970s.
Cole also had a close friendship with Bob Marley and at one point acted as the reggae superstar’s manager. He also toured with Bob Marley during the height of his career in the mid to late 1970s, including a lengthy stay in Ethiopia.
Allan “Skill” Cole is being remembered by Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport, Olivia Grange, as a Jamaican sports icon and one of Bob Marley’s trusted friends.
“I am truly sad at the passing of Allan Cole, who was Jamaica’s greatest footballer,” Grange said in a statement. “We recall with much pride that he started his international career for Jamaica just before his 15th birthday — that’s still a national record. We drew inspiration from his incredible skill and his unmatched records, including his exploits in Brazil. Our Jamaican was the first overseas player to play in the Brazilian league. Just imagine that before Skill, no foreigner had played in the Brazilian league. In Brazil, Allan not only played against but matched skill with World Cup winners, the great Pelé and Jairzinho.”
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in his statement, remembers Cole as a national treasure. “Jamaica has lost a legend,” Holness said. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of Allan ‘Skill’ Cole. Skill’s brilliance on the football field made him one of the greatest of his generation, a player who carried the pride and passion of Jamaica every time he stepped onto the field. His influence, however, stretched far beyond sports. As tour manager for Bob Marley & the Wailers and co-writer of the timeless anthem War, he became part of a cultural movement that defined an era and carried Jamaica’s voice to the world.”
Opposition leader Mark Golding also paid tribute to Cole for his cultural influence in both sports and reggae music. “I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Allan ‘Skill’ Cole, a Jamaican legend who many consider our greatest ever footballer, with silky, elegant passing skills and ball control that were second to none,” Golding wrote. “Skill’s unique and influential personality also had an impact on the development of reggae, through his close relationship with Bob Marley and other music legends of that era. I am grateful for having benefited from his generosity in sharing his deep, first-hand knowledge of the history of that seminal period of our cultural development.”
Allan “Skill” Cole will be remembered for generations as one of Jamaica’s sporting and musical heroes.