Jamaican football legend Allan “Skill” Cole has been hospitalized at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, and is in urgent need of blood.
According to the Jamaica Observer, the 73-year-old was admitted on Saturday with an undisclosed medical issue.
Dr. Carl Bruce, Medical Chief of Staff at the UHWI, said Cole is in stable condition.
“We just need to bring up his blood count. He is stable but needs some blood. We just need some young people to come donate some blood for him. Right now he is stable,” Dr. Bruce said.
Allan “Skill” Cole: One of the GOATs
Cole is considered one of the greatest Jamaican football players ever.
In 1962, Cole went to Kingston College High School, before moving to Campion College for one year and then Vere Technical, where his football skills caught the attention of local football stakeholders.
At 15 years old, he was called up to the national team, becoming Jamaica’s youngest senior football international. He appeared in three FIFA World Cup qualifying matches for the national team. During his career, he was Jamaica’s “most celebrated player”.
Cole had professional stints in the United States with the Atlanta Chiefs in the late 1960s, and with Brazilian club Nautica in the early 1970s. He helped Nautica to a spot in the National Championships in 1972, its first since 1959.
He was close friends with another Jamaican legend, Bob Marley. In addition to his football career, Cole was also the tour manager of Bob Marley and his band The Wailers during the 1970s. He was credited as co-writing the 1976 song “War”.
Cole left Jamaica in the late 1970s, settling in Ethiopia. In 1980, he was back in Marley’s camp as road manager for what would be the singer’s final tour.
In 2010, Cole was presented with a plaque by then-FIFA President Sepp Blatter in recognition of his contribution to Jamaican football.
