David Coote talks being sacked, death threats, cocaine battle and coming out as gay

Ex-referee David Coote talks being sacked, receiving death threats, his battle with coke and coming out as gay in an interview with The Sun.

The 42 year old told how repressing his sexuality, and the frenzied pressure of his job, led to his shameful cocaine abuse.

He turned to Class A drugs as an “escape” after being forced to hide his emotions and true identity – on and off the pitch.

In 2024, videos were put in the public domain, showing him calling Jurgen Klopp an “arrogant German c***”, he was ‘filmed snorting white powder during Euro 2024’, there were claims he set up drugs party in Travelodge around the Tottenham v Man City game, he refuted allegations he discussed giving a yellow card before the Leeds-West Brom match.

Man Utd fans sang a chant about David Coote’s criticism of Klopp during defeat at Huddersfield.

Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Jill Scott also reacted to David Coote in trouble with the video posted. See that HERE.

The video began with his saying: “So I’m gay I’ve struggled with feeling proud of being me, I’ve received death threats, wishes that I had a accident on the way home, but I didn’t die that I was paralysed and suffered for the rest of my life, if you are struggling like I did then seek help.”

The interview began: David you’re enjoying your Elite level career and then on November the 11th last year um this video uh was dropped on social media in which you are filmed calling Jurgen Klopp a German c word, I think you referenced Liverpool’s could you tell us where and how that video was filmed please

David: I think the first thing that I want to do is uh is apologise to anybody who I’ve offended by my actions so I recognised that they they fell well short of standards that are expected of a top level referee, and I deeply regret saying what I said and finding myself in the position that I found myself. That video has been sat with somebody for more than four years, I’d forgotten it existed, and I was sat waiting for my car to be serviced and then received a call to say that this video has surfaced on on social media and as you can tell from the video I clearly wasn’t sober. I deeply regret that found myself in that position and making the comments that I made that aren’t reflective of either my wiews of any of the individuals concerned or or all my wider views in general

Interviewer: Did you know the video was being taken at the time

David: I did yeah because it was um say with a friend and I believed that it was going to a to a friend um of of his so I didn’t know it was being taken yeah but obviously didn’t realiSe that it would end up in public domain

Interviewer: Do you know why they took that decision to put it on social media

David: I really don’t um it was obviously about the Liverpool manager and and the Liverpool game at that time and I just refereed Liverpool against Aston Villa but there was certainly no real issue with regard to to that game Liverpool won the game comfortably so I really have no idea why it would be released at when it when it was but it was and I’m responsible for what I said so you know I understand that the implications and the consequences that that are attributed to that and I have to own those

Interviewer: David a couple of days after the Klopp video appeared on social media there’s the release of a second video and you’re on the front page of the Sun newspaper, an image that showed you snorting cocaine in a UEFA appointed hotel room last summer I think it was on July the 6th a day after you’d been VAR official for the France – Germany quarter-final. Can you tell us how that video came to be taken?

David: There’s no easy answer to this question, there’s a lot of sort of strands to how I ended up in that position at the end of my tournament. A part of it is personal, part of it is football based

Interviewer: How frequently were you taking cocaine?

David: Infrequently. The job wouldn’t allow that and it’s not something that I was reliant on, it’s it was an entirely ad hoc basis I made some really poor choices the personal context for for me, it goes way way back, and relates to struggles that I’ve had over um over the course of time um around my self-esteem and that relates to my sexuality so I’m gay and I have struggled with feeling proud of being me over over a long period of time I’ve felt a deep sense of shame during my teenage years in particular, I didn’t come out to my parents until I was 21, I didn’t come out to my friends until I was 25 and thereabouts, I’m an only child to my Dad and I felt that I would be letting him down, I felt that I’d be, yeah I felt it really hard during those years and that’s part of a cricket changing room and it was very different in the 1990s than it is today and I’m not trying I really want to disassociate what I’m saying here and saying that my sexuality isn’t the only reason that led me to be in the position that I was but I’m not telling an authentic story of me if I don’t say that I’m gay and that I’ve had real struggles over time to be able to deal with hiding that I’ve already mentioned about hiding my emotions as a young referee, and I hid my sexuality through those years as well and I became pretty good at hiding my emotions as a ref which was a good quality as a referee but a terrible quality as a human being

Interviewer: Did you repress your sexuality outwardly because of football you didn’t feel able to express yourself and you had to live the secret

David: Not wholly because of football but partly, because, I’ve as I said, I’ve struggled to be me through the course of my life through through being through growing up as a teenager, not feeling like I ever fitted, and then as a response, to a response to that then putting on this hard exterior and this hard exterior actually meant that football became a place where I could go and I could go and referee and just be engrossed in the game and in the moment and but then I’d come home and then it would be more difficult because I’m almost living a a double sense of being and that I’m having to put on this sort of exterior, this hard shell to go and officiate and to be me more publicly,  and then try and align that with with being with being me less publicly and at home more privately,  so that you know has been hard and and you know one of the the main drivers of for me to be here and to do is to try and help others in you know who may be in a similar situation to I felt as though I’ve had a almost a a sense of duty to my colleagues to show how difficult their job is and to other people who are in my situation to say that if you are, if you are struggling like I did, still am to to a large extent, then seek help and talk to somebody because if you bottle it up like I have done, it has to come out in some way excuse me

Interviewer:  Who was it that alerted you to the video and in that moment did you think your career was over?

David: I received a phone call from the head of communications at PGMOL and subsequently a phone call suspending me, and of course I understood immediately the implications of the seriousness of what I said and that was being known publicly because the the expectations of a referee at the top level of the game are that we’re impartial and as difficult as that might be in terms of some of the wider theories around referees who support the club and shouldn’t be officiating games that impact on the club that they support and and actually that couldn’t be further from the truth because when we cross that line it’s red against blue it we’re under so much scrutiny that it’s impossible to do anything other than just give a honest decision on what you see because there’s no other way of being able to officiate at the top levels of the game under the the microscopic view of the media and supporters, so to continue the chronology so to speak, May 2023 I lost my mum, I was actually in Greece doing a game and came off the game to um to that to to that message or to message to speak to my dad she uh I I lost her very suddenly, so the summer of 2023 wasn’t easy the same sort of time my uncle, my dad’s brother was also diagnosed with motor neurones disease so it’s a really tough time for my family

Interviewer: David on November the 15 there was another story emerged suggestion of arranging a drugs party at half time um during the Spurs – Man City Carabao Cup tie on October the 30th and some messages you were having back and forward is that something that you would say came about because of exactly what you’ve just explained to us the sort of pressure cooker inside you that because of your repressed sexuality because of the stress of the job is that all part of the same secret life that was bubbling away inside you

David: It is I think it’s important to say that that that was never going to be a thing I was at training camp the next day and saw everybody at training camp the next day that was in uh that was in Loughborough, so it was literally as I said when I referred to other behaviours um in order to escape move away then then messaging was part of that it was almost like a different me and again I something that I really regret doing but it’s not something that was uh ever actually sort of on the cards as such it was literally just messages backwards and forwards and with no real meaning to to them

Interviewer: David on November the 26th last year there was a new investigation by the footballers Association after messages emerged from 2019 before Leeds played West Brom and some chat that you had with someone about Leeds’s fullback Alioski getting a yellow card and of course he was booked subsequently and after that game I think you messaged him ‘I hope you backed as discussed’, have you ever been involved in spot fixing

David: No I haven’t and the rest of the context of those messages are for all to see as were published there was no agreement prior I went and did my job there was no agenda before going out onto the field the player committed a yellow card tackle that’s clear and I did my duty and did my job and showed a yellow card I wasn’t in a great place and I was messaging people that I in hindsight shouldn’t have trusted naively trusted and in that sense I regret having the conversation but only in that sense I made some really poor choices and I really wish that I could turn back the clock now and do things differently for many years but that I can’t do, I can only sit here and take responsibility for what I did. I’m guilty of doing what I did but I’m trying to be the best person that I can be now

Interviewer: David on December the 9th last year you were sacked by the PGMOL and I think UEFA came to the same decision, and there’s reports that you know you might have lost £2 million in future earnings from that, can you just talk to us about how that was relayed to you and how tough It’s been to hear that and to go through what what you have

David: It’s been incredibly tough because I I loved the game I loved what I did and I started refereeing when I was 14 and um now I’m in my early 40s I have nearly 30 years of experience of of refereeing and you know many games at the top level of of English football and I understood immediately the implications and the seriousness of the situation that I found myself in and the position that the PGMOL were finding themselves in and they had a job to do and they had to investigate and they had to come to a conclusion that was that was the best conclusion for the game and I understand that and they’ve been incredibly supportive through throughout the process actually helped with regard to a production of a psychologist that’s who’s been who been a wonderful help and equally for the subsequent course that that I’ve embarked upon and without that support the support of my colleagues and everybody else then I’m not sure I’d be here today if I’m honest the the whole in particular when the stories broke in the first instance I was in a incredibly incredibly dark place, I found it easier since knowing my fate and being able to take stock of where I am as a person to reevaluate what’s important to me, to spend some quality time with family and friends that I haven’t had the opportunity to for the reasons that I’ve already outlined with regard to the scheduling and actually to take to take a little bit of time to make sure that I’m in the best place that I can can be to move forwards really

Interviewer: And just lastly on this you know the idea Liverpool definitely won’t win the Premier League and I think Andy Robertson at one point was referred to as a Scottish *beep*, is that presumably something you regret saying and you don’t believe

David: As I’ve said previously I I regret lots of lots of things that I’ve said that have been reported and things that that may or may not have been said in the moment I certainly don’t think that and I have to say everybody in in their moment can be difficult on the football pitch everybody in the moment can actually be really decent on the football pitch as well and some of the some of the comments that we received during games from players that you may not actually expect uh to receive in a positive sense actually would surprise many people I think so it’s important to to to maintain that everybody who takes the football field is full of emotion, when we’re involved in the game things will be said that people don’t mean things will be said subsequently that they don’t mean I’m pretty sure that there’s been plenty of players or managers that have said something things about about me and my refereeing or my decision making that they wouldn’t necessarily sit here and uh and say that they believe and and the same is is true of um of as as much officials

Interviewer: What is it like for for you and or any ref to have 60,000 people shouting and pointing and screaming the referees this

David: The 50 or 60,000 people or whatever it may be genuinely don’t impact on as much as what people would believe we’re constantly talking to each other and focusing on that as match officials we’re constantly reading and listening to reading the signs and listening to the players that are on the field so actually the the the noise in the stadium is actually really doesn’t impact on us very much, what is more impactful is the the things that you hear and the things that you see that are more individual and the more targeted those who decide to hang around for an hour or two after the game to individually abuse us, hang over the barriers as we leave the leave the stadium, those who take to social media and even if we as the referees might not be on social media or might not see it the impact that has on our friends and our family who do see it and why shouldn’t they be on on social media, and it’s abhorrent some of the things that are said, it really is and that has more has more impact on on us as individuals and as as people

Interviewer: How bad has the abuse been that you have received personally

David: I’ve received death threats, I had a accelerated response tag on my address from if I was to speak to the police or if I was to ring the police

Interviewer: Can you just tell us about the death threats?

David: Yeah I my old Instagram tag was released on a fan social media platform, forum and I received friend requests, message requests that were abhorrant, there were death threats, there were wishes that I had a accident on the way home but I didn’t die that I was paralysed and suffered for the rest of my life, had one that hoped my Mum would die of AIDS overnight in her sleep, multiple others along similar lines that people write without accountability and I just can’t see how that in any ways is acceptable to think of to type. There’s standard abuse that comes in on a regular basis but there but there are some that cross any sort of line of acceptability

Interviewer: Is there any idea going into refereeing just how you become a public profile

David: It’s strange really because nobody, nothing really prepares you for moving through the levels and and particularly the Premier League which is like a goldfish Bowl in its own way when you’re part of it you don’t actually apply for promotion people just um take a judgment on your performances and and you as a person and give you the opportunity at at a new level and all of us who operate at the the the top levels of the game we’re just normal guys football fans who have been fortunate enough to be selected to move through the levels and then you know find ourselves in at the top level of the game

Interviewer: Are you aware of other refs and footballers that um are are gay and yet don’t feel comfortable in publicly you know declaring their sexuality

David: The numbers of people that are involved in the game would show that there must be others that are in the same position as what I am, and I really do hope that by talking as candidly as I have about each of the situations I found myself in but also the difficulties and the struggles I’ve had over time that they’ll find some solace in that I’ve had some wonderful memories and experiences of being a referee at the top level of the game and I don’t want that to go missing in the midst of all of what I’ve said because some of the games I’ve seen some of the places that I’ve been and the experiences that I’ve had I’m really fortunate as a football fan to have to have seen them at such quarters and to have taken part in them

Interviewer: Do you have any ideas sitting here now of what football can do to be more inclusive

David: I don’t have an easy answer is my honest answer to that, it’s a really difficult world to work in to be me in football, wasn’t easy I know that, and I just found that I didn’t want to be that, I didn’t want to to stand out from the crowd, I didn’t want to draw a necessary attention to to myself and I understand why others wouldn’t want to do the same as as well I have no doubt that if somebody did there’d be there’ be a lot of support for them to do so, but also I know that they would be opening themselves up to some of the things that that I’ve talked about in terms of of online abuse and prejudicial views that really have no place in the society that we live in I really hope that by highlighting the difficulties of the job and by saying laying some context that I’m not just a referee I’m a human being and every official that takes the pitch up and down the country from a local playing field to the Premier League is a human being I’ve struggled and I’ve tried to tried to get through it in in my own way and and made some poor poor decisions in doing so, but I hope that others make better decisions than I have and the referees are given a bit of an easier ride in the levels of scrutiny and the levels of abuse that may come in their direction