'I just remember him loving Celtic', 'Record all the games'; Bob Marley's son reveals extent of icon's Hoops adoration

By John McGinley

December 10, 2020

The son of musical legend Bob Marley, Rohan, has revealed the extent of his father’s love for Celtic, speaking to club outlet The Celtic View this week (09/12 print edition, page 21).

It’s long been known that the cultural icon, Reggae legend and genius singer/songwriter had a soft spot for the best team in Scotland.

Celtic legend Dixies Deans told a famous story in his autobiography, from 2011, about meeting Bob back in the 1970s.

During the conversation, it became apparent to Deans that the singer was a big Celtic supporter.

Now his son Rohan has added a fantastic background to that encounter, sharing that his father used to record Celtic matches and would talk to his sons about the famous team built under manager Jock Stein.

As quoted by The Celtic View (09/12 print edition, page 21), Marley said: “I always loved Celtic. They were one of my father’s favourite teams. He would talk about Celtic and that’s how I came to know them.

“I don’t remember a lot about that because I was young but I just remember him loving Celtic and telling me about them winning the European Cup.

“When he was in Europe, he was able to see a lot of the big football games on TV. He watched a lot of English football and Scottish football.

“He would record all the games and I watched them years later at my grandmother’s house. That’s how I came across all these Celtic players from the late 1970s and early ’80s because I’d watch these tapes of Celtic versus Rangers games over and over again.”

This is a fantastic story and interview in The Celtic View that you should really check out in its entirety.

It’s brilliant to hear such a massive global icon like Bob Marley had a fondness for the Hoops and, more than that, passed that on to his son and the next generation.

That’s what being a Bhoys supporter is all about, as you’ll know.

Celtic fan Bob Marley / (Photo by Pete Still/Redferns)

Rohan’s love for football and Celtic has endured down the years too, sharing with The Celtic View that he even tried to convince the club to give him a trial back in the 1990s when he was a young athlete, which came to nothing.

Not sure about you, but I’m off the listen to Bob Marley on Spotify for the rest of the week, as if I needed an excuse!