Know if David Coote has a boyfriend or husband
David Coote, a former Premier League referee, has admitted that he concealed his s*xual orientation during his career out of concern for the abuse he might face for being gay.
David Coote, 42, claimed that his actions that resulted in his termination by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in December were influenced by the demands of his job.
Is ex-Premier League referee David Coote married, does he have a partner, boyfriend or husband as he comes out as gay
EXCL: Emotional David Coote bravely comes out as gay pic.twitter.com/bMEvawLJ7P
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) January 27, 2025
“I’m gay and I have struggled with feeling proud of being ‘me’ for a long period of time,” he stated in an interview with the Sun that was published on Monday night.
“I have received deeply unpleasant abuse during my career as a ref and to add my s*xuality to that would have been really difficult.”
David Coote, who has refereed over 100 Premier League games, first spoke with the Sun, the publication that first exposed his wrongdoing.
“This has been one of the most difficult periods of my life,” he said in a separate statement released late Monday, expressing regret for the actions that resulted in his dismissal. I fully accept responsibility for my acts, which were well below my standards.
Speaking to the public about his s*xual orientation, David Coote claimed that he experienced a “deep sense of shame” as a teenager and came clean with his parents at the age of 21 and his friends at the age of 25.
David Coote right now. pic.twitter.com/H444NWlazI
— Joshua 👨🏾💻🇳🇬 (@big_man_joshyy) January 27, 2025
Prior to his eventual dismissal, Coote was also the focus of an investigation by the Football Association about his suspected use of a yellow card to order.
The 42-year-old claims that since the news of his drug use at Euro 2024 broke, he has been in a “incredibly dark place” and that he doesn’t know whether he would still be “here today” if it weren’t for his family’s support.
The former referee explained that he is now sober and that he had taken drugs in order to deal with the pressure of work, losing his mother in 2023, and hiding his s*xuality. While he revealed he was gay, Coote didn’t comment on his relationship status or telling if he had a boyfriend or husband.
“A ‘pressure cooker’ of repressed emotion coupled with a demanding work schedule made me want to ‘escape’ with cocaine,” Coote continued.
After video evidence of Coote disparaging Liverpool and calling Jürgen Klopp a haughty “German cunt” surfaced, PGMOL suspended him on November 11, 2024. The Guardian claims that the “video appears to date from the 2020–21 season”