Sacked referee David Coote pleads not guilty to making indecent image of child

Former Premier League referee David Coote has entered a not guilty plea to making an indecent image of a child.

The 43-year-old appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged over allegations relating to a video recovered by police in February.

Coote wore a navy suit and sat at the back of the court room.

He spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and to enter his plea during the hearing, which lasted 18 minutes.

The charge of making an indecent image of a child refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving abuse photos or videos.

The allegation relates to a video recovered by officers from Nottinghamshire Police in February before Coote was charged on 12 August, the force said.

The former referee, of Collingham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, was granted conditional bail by District Judge Gillian Young.

He was told to appear at Nottingham Crown Court for a further hearing on 9 October.

Coote was sacked by Professional Game Match Officials Limited in December 2024, after a video of comments he had made about ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp in 2020 came to light.

In August 2025 he was given an eight-week suspension by the Football Association over the Klopp footage.

In January, Coote came out as gay in an interview with The Sun and said a lifelong struggle to hide his sexuality had contributed to the rant about Klopp.

Coote said: “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 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.”

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