The local football community is in mourning following the passing of former Jamaica and Santos midfielder Allan “Skill” Cole, who died on Tuesday evening at the age of 74.

Cole, a revered figure in Jamaican football history, first made his mark as part of the highly successful Vere Technical DaCosta Cup teams of the 1960s, scoring 38 goals in his debut season in 1965. He holds the distinction of being Jamaica’s youngest senior football international, having donned the national colours for the first time against a Brazilian side at just 15 years old.

His football journey also took him abroad, with professional stints in the United States playing for the Atlanta Chiefs in the late 1960s, and in Brazil with Nautica during the early 1970s.

Back home, Cole was a key member of the star-studded Santos team that captured three consecutive National League titles, cementing his legacy as one of the country’s finest midfielders. Beyond his playing career, he contributed significantly to local football as a coach, leading teams including Arnett Gardens, Port Morant United, and Rockfort in the Major League.

Tributes have poured in from across the Jamaican football fraternity, as well as from public figures. Leader of the Opposition, Mark Golding, expressed his condolences in an Instagram post, describing Cole as “a Jamaican legend who many consider our greatest ever footballer, with silky, elegant passing skills and ball control that were second to none.”

Golding also highlighted Cole’s cultural impact, noting: “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.”

He added that Cole’s contributions should be “documented for posterity among the annals of Jamaica’s great personalities.”