| General |
| David Coote | ||
| ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Coote | |
| Place of birth | Nottinghamshire,  England
| |
| Domestic | ||
| Years | League | Role |
| ?–2010 2010–2018 2018–2024 |
National League The Football League Premier League |
Referee Referee Referee |
| International | ||
| Years | League | Role |
| 2020–2022 | FIFA listed | Referee |
David Harry Coote (born 11 July 1982) is an English former football referee. His county FA is the Nottinghamshire Football Association. He belonged to the Select Group of Referees in England and officiated primarily in the Premier League before his dismissal in December 2024.
Career[]
Coote started refereeing as a sixteen-year-old. He refereed in the Notts Alliance League, the Northern Counties East Football League, the Northern Premier League and the Conference North before being promoted to the Football League list of referees as an assistant referee. His first game in this role came in a Football League Two game between Stockport County and Hereford United. He was promoted to the list of Football League referees in 2010. In May 2014, Coote was the referee for the 2014 Football League One play-off Final at Wembley Stadium between Leyton Orient and Rotherham United.
On 28 April 2018, Coote officiated his first Premier League game between Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion, a game which ended as a 1–0 victory to West Brom. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, Coote was promoted to Select Group 1.
On 14 February 2023, Coote was appointed to officiate the 2023 EFL Cup Final between Manchester United and Newcastle United, which Manchester United went on to win 2–0.
On 11 November 2024, he was suspended by refereeing body PGMOL after video footage of him emerged, in which he appeared to make derogatory comments about Liverpool and describe their former manager Jürgen Klopp as a "German c*n*". In a subsequent video, Coote appears to say: "Just to be clear, that last video can’t go anywhere, seriously." Coote has reportedly claimed that the video is not genuine. According to The Guardian, the "video appears to date from the 2020-21 season". During that season, Coote was the video assistant referee for the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton at Goodison on 17 October, a game which saw Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford go unpunished for what TNT Sports called "a horror tackle" on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk which resulted in an anterior cruciate ligament injury that ruled Van Dijk out for the season. Having watched the video, Coote did not call for any action on Pickford, instead focusing on a marginal offside in the buildup to the collision.
Video incident and suspension[]
On 11 November 2024, Coote was suspended by PGMOL after video footage emerged in which he made derogatory comments about Liverpool and described Jürgen Klopp as an arrogant "German cu*t". According to The Guardian, the "video appears to date from the 2020–21 season". During that season, Coote was the video assistant referee for the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on 17 October, a game which saw Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford go unpunished for what TNT Sports called "a horror tackle" on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, which resulted in a season-ending injury. Having watched the footage of the tackle, Coote did not call for any action on Pickford, instead focusing on a marginal offside in the buildup to the collision. Coote initially claimed the video was not real; however, he later admitted that it was genuine. On 13 November, another video emerged allegedly showing Coote snorting a white powder during Euro 2024, leading to Coote being suspended by UEFA.
The Football Association was also investigating Coote for possible match fixing. Allegedly, Coote had prearranged to hand out a yellow card during the Championship game between Leeds United and West Brom in October 2019, in order to benefit a friend through betting. Coote denied any wrongdoing. On 9 December, the investigation concluded and Coote was sacked with immediate effect.
Personal life[]
Coote is the son of David Coote who played cricket for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. In January 2025, Coote came out as gay.
External links[]
| England
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