Watch ‘Bob Marley And The Beautiful Game’: A Short Film Exploring The Reggae Icon’s Love Of Football

From warming up with a ball before big shows, to running the midfield in Battersea Park, a new short film Bob Marley and the Beautiful game explores the reggae legend’s love of football and his lasting influence at Ajax Football Club in Amsterdam.

The new short tells the story of a how Marley’s song ‘Three Little Birds’ still echoes around the Johan Cruyff Arena due to a chance encounter between a Cardiff City FC DJ and the Amsterdam faithful and you can watch it above.

Entertaining and informative, Bob Marley And The Beautiful Game is a collaboration between Island Records and video makers Copa 90 and it explores the reggae icon’s enduring love of football in depth.

Presented by London-based musician and lifelong football fan B.O.A.T (Boy Of All Talents), the film also features contributions from Grammy Award-winning musician Sean Paul, reggae musician Levi Roots, AFC Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana and author Weip Idzenga, who sets the tone when he says, “If [Bob Marley] had the chance, he would have been a football player instead of a musician – he loved it that much.”

During the short film, Andre Onana reveals that AFC Ajax adopted Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’ as their anthem after a friendly fixture with Welsh club Cardiff City descended into violence and fights broke out between the two teams’ supporters. However, after the match DJ, Ali Yassine played Marley’s evergreen reggae hit, everything calmed down and the fighting stopped. B.O.A.T interviews Yassine about that memorable day and then travels to Amsterdam to take in a football match where Marley’s son Ky-Mani Marley leads the Ajax supporters in a rousing, mass sing-along of ‘Three Little Birds’.

“He gave something to the world that was beautiful”, Sean Paul says in his personal tribute to Bob Marley. “I salute him forever for that.”

Explore Our Bob Marley Artist Page.

Format: UK English