Heartbroken: Ex-Premier League referee has revealed he is gay claiming he took to cocaine due to fear over coming out in a ‘macho world’.

Ex-Premier League referee David Coote comes out as gay as he admits hiding sexuality led to behaviour he deeply regrets

 

Coote was dismissed from his post after a series of damaging videos, with one seeing him call Jurgen Klopp an ‘arrogant German c***’, while another emerged of him snorting a white powder while working as an official at Euro 2024.

Leaked text messages also emerged of Coote organising a drug-fuelled party while working as an official during the Tottenham vs. Manchester City Carabao Cup tie in October.

In his first interview on the scandal, Coote explained that living a lie led to the end of his career.

“I felt a deep sense of shame during my teenage years in particular,” Coote said in a tearful interview with The Sun.

“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.”

He added, “I’ve had issues around my self-esteem—and that relates to my sexuality. I’m gay and I’ve struggled with feeling proud of being ‘me’ over a long period of time.

“I have received deeply unpleasant abuse during my career as a ref and to add my sexuality to that would have been really difficult.

“There’s a lot to be done throughout football and more widely in society with regard to discrimination.

“I didn’t want to be that person that was putting their head above the parapet to be shot at, given the abuse we all get as a referee in any event.”

Coote was also the subject of a probe from the Football Association over allegedly issuing a yellow card to order—before he was eventually dismissed.

The 42-year-old says he has been in an ‘incredibly dark place’ since news of his drug-taking at Euro 2024 emerged, claiming he’s not sure he’d be ‘here today’ were it not for the support of his family.

Coote added that a ‘pressure cooker’ of suppressed emotion, combined with an intense work schedule, left him wanting to ‘escape’ with cocaine.

He said, “It’s not something I was reliant on day by day, week by week, month by month.

“I’ve had long periods where I’ve not used it—but it was one of the escape routes I had. Just getting away from the stresses and the relentlessness of the job. It fills me with a huge sense of shame to say that I took that route.”

He recalled: “In 2023, I lost my mum very suddenly. At the same time my uncle was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. After COVID and the introduction of VAR, six officials were suddenly needed for each game.

“I was selected by FIFA for the Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia, as well as the Euros and Olympics last year.

“It meant that over the course of the 2023/24 season I was involved in more than 90 games—often back to back.

“At the end of last season, I went straight into the Euros and that was incredibly pressurised. I had another tournament coming up immediately — heading to Paris for the Olympics.”

Coote added, “I don’t recognise myself in the cocaine video. I can’t resonate with how I felt then, but that was me. I was struggling with the schedule and there was no opportunity to stop. And so I found myself in that position—escaping.”

Coote is still under investigation after a friend told him he was putting money on Leeds player Ezgjan Alioski getting booked before a 2019 clash against West Brom.

He did caution the player during the game and later sent his friend the message, “I hope you backed as discussed.”

However, Coote denies wrongdoing in this episode, saying: “There was no agreement prior to the game. I went and did my job. The player committed a yellow card tackle.

“I received nothing for it. I’m really disappointed that anything like this has come out because it tarnishes the integrity of the game. And whatever people think of me as a referee, as a human, I have always gone out and done my best on the pitch.

“I wasn’t in a great place, and I was messaging people that in hindsight I shouldn’t have trusted. I was naive.”

He added, “I made some really poor choices and I really wish I could turn back the clock now and do things differently.”.

Coote also revealed that he has now kicked his drug habit after seeking therapy.

He said, “I put on this hard exterior. Football became a place where I could go and referee and be engrossed in the game.

“But then I’d come home and it would be more difficult because I’m living a double sense of being.

“To other people who are in my situation, I’d say seek help and talk to somebody because if you bottle it up like I have done, it has to come out in some way.”

Coote added, “It’s been incredibly tough because I loved the game. I started refereeing when I was 14.

“I’ve found it easier since knowing my fate and being able to re-evaluate what’s important to me.

“To spend some quality time with family and friends and take time to make sure I’m in the best place to move forward.”

Reacting to Coote’s interview, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher told talkSPORT: “It raises such a number of issues.

“I think one of them being that exposed very deeply the pressure the referees are under.

“It’s interesting. A few weeks ago I spoke to [PGMOL chief] Howard Webbe and we were discussing about refereeing and I actually said to him I believe it’s actually easier to referee on the field now than ever before.

“He asked me why, and I said well, they’ve got the backup system, they’ve got mentors, a sports psychologist, and in David’s interview, he mentions that he doesn’t hear the abuse because they’re mic’d up, they can hear the other referees talking, and it actually blocks it out.

“But off the field, I think it’s 100 times worse.