David Coote's 'shattering' fall from grace as top referee avoids prison

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David Coote, the former Premier League referee once entrusted with overseeing football’s highest-profile matches, has today been handed a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years after admitting possessing a category A indecent image of a child, a court has ruled.

It's a dramatic decline for a man who only recently stood at the pinnacle of English football officiating. At Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Nirmal Shant KC described Coote’s conduct as a “spectacular fall from grace” as she imposed the sentence, sparing him immediate custody but ordering him to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and imposing a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his contact with children.

Once a mainstay of English football’s elite match officials, the 43-year-old from Nottinghamshire had refereed more than 100 Premier League matches and was a FIFA-listed referee before his dismissal. Coote’s downfall began not with this offence, but with a controversial video.

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A video of him making derogatory remarks about then-Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp - including a nationality-based insult - surfaced online in 2024, leading to an eight-week suspension from the English Football Association and widespread criticism.

That clip prompted a Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) investigation and ultimately his sacking in December 2024. Later, another video depicting Coote allegedly snorting a white powder through a bank note during Euro 2024 emerged, resulting in a UEFA ban until mid-2026.

While police were analysing Coote’s devices amid these separate inquiries, a two-minute, 11-second video was discovered on his Dell laptop. Prosecutors said the footage, recorded in January 2020, showed a 15-year-old boy in school uniform undressing and performing sexual acts - categorised as the most serious type of indecent material under UK law.

Coote initially answered “no comment” during a police interview in February 2025, and in October pleaded guilty to the charge of making an indecent image of a child. At sentencing, Judge Shant acknowledged the severity of the offence, emphasising that such images “involve real children being abused, with all the consequent damage that follows.”

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She also touched on Coote’s personal struggles. The court heard he had experienced a relationship breakdown, battled mental health difficulties, and used cocaine, which his defence argued had affected his decision-making at the time.

Coote’s barrister said he was “deeply ashamed” of his actions and had shown remorse to the probation service. His rapid descent from highly regarded official to disgraced figure has shocked the football community.

In addition to match officiating at the top domestic level, he had also officiated in international fixtures and was once part of the Elite Referee group, representing the highest tier of referees in England.