David Coote: Bio, Stats, Controversies, and Favourite Club

David Coote is an English football referee who belongs to the Select Group of Referees in England and officiates in the Premier League. The son of a former English cricketer David Edwards Coote who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. The 42-year-old Englishman started his journey as a referee when he was 16 years old. Before he was promoted to the Football League list of referees as an assistant referee, he refereed in the Notts Alliance League, the Northern Counties East Football League, the Northern Premier League, and the Conference North.

David Coote Referee Career

David Coote’s first game as a referee came in a Football League Two game between Stockport County and Hereford United. In 2010, he was promoted to the list of Football League referees. The 42-year-old was the referee for the 2014 Football League One play-off final between Leyton Orient and Rotherham United at Wembley Stadium.

In 2018, the Englishman officiated his first Premier League game between Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion. Later on, he was appointed to officiate the 2023 EFL Cup final between Manchester United and Newcastle United which United won 2-0. Recently he made headlines with his derogatory comments about the Reds and Jurgen Klopp when he was seen in a video saying “German C**t”. According to The Guardian, the video appears to be from the 2020-21 season, when David Coote was the video assistant referee for the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton on October 17 at Goodison.

At first, the 42-year-old Englishman denied the allegations but later admitted his fault which led PGMOL to intervene. At first, only PGMOL suspended the Englishman for his vulgar remarks which go against the ethics and regulations. But now FIFA has also suspended him for his violations and misconducts.

David Coote and Jurgen Klopp Clashes

The very first clash between David Coote and Jurgen Klopp happened on October 20th, 2019 during a game between Manchester United and Liverpool. When Klopp felt aggrieved that Victor Lindelof was not punished for a foul on Divock Origi in the build of Man United’s opener but David Coope upheld the onfield decision as he was VAR official that day.

During a game between Liverpool and Burnley in 2020, Jurgen Klopp and David Coote engaged in a fierce verbal argument over not awarding them a penalty. Their fierce clashes continue, these two met once again in October 2020 during a game between Everton and Liverpool. Klopp was seen fuming and angry when David Coote didn’t show a red card to Jordan Pickford for a rash tackle on Virgil van Dijk, who suffered a season-ending injury back then.

After his video went viral against then Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp, the PGMOL intervened, and after a thorough investigation, they found David Coote guilty. He was later suspended immediately on December 9, 2024.

Which club does he support?

The 42-year-old Englishman has been seen favoring quite a few times in favor of Manchester United with one event when Casemiro made a tackle worthy of a red card but he only showed the defensive midfielder a yellow card which raised questions about his decision-making. Luton fans were left fuming when the referee gave Casemiro a warning instead of giving him his marching orders when he made a rash tackle for a second time but got a warning instead of a second yellow card.

What is PGMOL?

Professional Game Match Officials Limited commonly known as PGMOL, they are responsible for match officials in English professional football. Officially formed and started in 2001, when English referees became professional and started providing Officials for all games in the Premier League, English Football League, and Football Association competitions.

They have monthly evaluations where referees are called for training sessions and analysis of match videos and data.

Also Read: Referee David Coote suspended by PGMOL over alleged anti-Liverpool video