Former Premier League referee David Coote has been spotted delivering packages for courier firm Evri.
Coote, 42, was sacked by the PGMOL, the referees’ body, in December after appearing in several leaked clips, including one in which he insulted former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. In another, he could be seen snorting a white powder.
The PGMOL found Coote’s actions made his position as a Premier League official ‘untenable’ and the organisation headed up by Howard Webb terminated his employment with immediate effect.
Coote was then handed a 16-month ban by UEFA in February for violating ‘the basic rules of decent conduct’ and bringing ‘the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute’.
Coote has rarely been seen in public since, but a report in The Sun on Monday has shown the former official enjoying a surprise new career.
In footage via a couple’s ring doorbell at their house, Coote can be seen dropping off a parcel for Evri.
Former referee David Coote has been spotted delivering packages for courier firm Evri
Coote was sacked by the PGMOL over a series of leaked videos that emerged last year
In one video, Coote could be heard making disparaging remarks about Jurgen Klopp
Coote has reportedly started working for the delivery company near his home in Newark in Nottinghamshire and opened up on his new role.
‘I’m just trying to make an honest living,’ he said. ‘I want to get on with my life. I’m trying to move forwards and regain a sense of responsibility and purpose. The job is keeping me busy and occupied, it’s not a new long-term career.
‘I’m doing what I want to do, focusing on what’s important like spending more time with friends and family.’
The couple in question were unsurprisingly shocked to see such a high profile figure delivering their parcel, although they revealed that Coote is regularly spotted around Newark.
Meanwhile, a friend of Coote threw his backing behind the former official – who ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon last month to raise money for motor neurone disease – and gave further insight into the new job.
‘David’s a great lad who lost his career through stupidity, as he fully acknowledges,’ the friend said. ‘There might be a return for him to the game at some point, and football definitely needs experts like him. Until then he obviously has to pay the bills.’
Meanwhile, Coote, who officiated more than 100 top-flight games, was suspended by the PGMOL on November 11 after a video of him labelling Klopp a ‘German ****’ was published online.
Just a few days later, The Sun released a clip of him allegedly snorting a white substance while officiating at Euro 2024, prompting a new investigation from UEFA.
A video also emerged of Coote allegedly snorting white powder in a hotel room at Euro 2024
Coote said that he felt a deep sense of regret and didn’t recognise himself in the videos
Coote was then stood down from officiating European matches by UEFA and, in a later development, the FA confirmed he was the subject of a betting probe after allegations that he exchanged messages with a friend before a Leeds United match with West Bromwich Albion in 2019 in which he was asked to book the home side’s Ezgjan Alioski. Coote has denied wrongdoing in relation to the betting probe.
The original Klopp video was allegedly recorded back in 2020 after Liverpool’s controversial 1-1 draw against Burnley, which saw Andy Robertson angrily confront the English referee after not being awarded a penalty.
The leaked video was reportedly sent to the publication by a friend of the referee, while the other clip showing Coote allegedly snorting a white substance was filmed by the official at a hotel paid for by UEFA during Euro 2024.
Coote said he has been in an ‘incredibly dark place’ since the footage became public, and confirmed the powder he had been snorting was cocaine.
‘It was really difficult, I didn’t want to leave the house because I felt everybody would be judging me,’ Coote revealed.
‘I felt that every way I looked people were looking at me and thinking what’s he done, why has he done that, he’s let himself down, he’s let other people down, he’s let his colleagues, his friends, his family down.
‘I went shopping and for the first time everywhere I was looking in the supermarket I felt that everybody was watching me or was looking at me and judging me and I had a panic attack in one of the aisles and had to take some deep breaths.’
Meanwhile, in an emotional interview in January, Coote explained how shame over his sexuality led to a battle with drugs and he admitted that he had used them as an escape.
Coote previously said he was in an ‘incredibly dark place’ after the footage became public
‘I felt a deep sense of shame during my teenage years in particular,’ he said. ‘I didn’t come out to my parents until I was 21. I didn’t come out to my friends until I was 25.
‘My sexuality isn’t the only reason that led me to be in that position. But I’m not telling an authentic story if I don’t say that I’m gay, and that I’ve had real struggles dealing with hiding that.
‘I hid my emotions as a young ref and I hid my sexuality as well – a good quality as a referee but a terrible quality as a human being. And that’s led me to a whole course of behaviours.’
Coote began his refereeing journey at the age of 14, where he started as a linesman. In 2010 he was promoted to the list of Football League referees. His first major game in charge came in the 2014 League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
In 2018, Coote reached the pinnacle of being a referee when he officiated his first Premier League game between Newcastle and West Brom. He was a FIFA-listed referee between September 2020 and March 2022.
