Ex-Premier League referee David Coote pleads guilty to child image offence

Former Premier League referee, David Coote, has pleaded guilty to creating an indecent image of a child. The 43-year-old made the admission during a court appearance at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

According to Sky Sports, the charge relates to a Category A video the most severe classification under UK law which was uncovered by police earlier this year.

Coote entered his guilty plea during a brief hearing before Judge Nirmal Shant KC.

The offence is linked to material recovered by authorities in February 2025.

The former referee, from Collingham, was granted conditional bail by Judge Shant and told he must appear in court again on December 11.

The judge told Coote, who stood in the dock with his hands clasped in front of him, that she was ordering a pre-sentence report to be carried out before he was to be sentenced.

She said: “You have pleaded guilty to a serious matter. Whether this means custody or not will be decided when all the information is before the court, which is why I have ordered a pre-sentence report.”

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

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