Before Callum Hudson-Odoi became a Premier League star, reports suggest that football talent already ran deep in his family, beginning with his father, Bismark Odoi, who is said to have played as a midfielder for Accra Hearts of Oak, one of Ghana’s most celebrated clubs.
According to media reports, Bismark Odoi was part of Hearts of Oak’s squad during the mid-1970s, a period remembered for the club’s exciting style and fierce rivalry with Asante Kotoko.
He is said to have joined Hearts after attending Accra High School, and reportedly featured as part of an attacking line which helped the team reach two second-place finishes in the African Cup of Champions Clubs.
One of his most memorable moments, as described by former teammate Douglas Tagoe, now a local chief in Ghana, came in 1978 when Hearts of Oak beat Kotoko 2–1 in Kumasi.
The night in 2001 Liberia silenced the Black Stars in Accra
“Bismark scored the first goal, and I scored the second. It was one of the biggest rivalries in Ghana, and we only had nine men left on the pitch,” Tagoe recalled in an interview shared by ABTC.
Reports further suggest that Bismark later represented Ghana’s national team, earning recognition among local fans for his commitment and technical ability.
Bismark’s journey eventually took him to the United Kingdom, where he is said to have joined a Coca-Cola soccer course. He later settled in Wandsworth, South London, where he and his wife, Jennifer Odoi, started a family.
It was there that Callum Hudson-Odoi was born.
Bismark’s passion for football appears to have influenced his children as well. Callum’s older brother, Bradley Odoi, also pursued a professional football career, playing for clubs such as Hereford United and Woking.
Although little is publicly verified about Bismark’s own playing career, several Ghanaian outlets and football historians have credited him as a former Hearts of Oak player who transitioned into life in the UK and supported his son’s development.
He has been described as both a mentor and an agent figure for Callum, guiding him through his early career at Chelsea.
FKA/AE
AG discontinues case against 3rd accused in Adu-Boahene case
