Disgraced ex-Premier League referee David Coote has been spotted in a dramatic career shift, now working as a parcel delivery driver following his high-profile dismissal from top-flight football.
Coote, 42, was suspended in November 2024 and officially sacked in December by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) after the emergence of two damning videos. One showed him snorting a white powder, believed to be cocaine, while the other featured him insulting former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, calling him a “German c**t.”
PGMOL confirmed at the time that Coote had breached his contract so severely that his position became untenable, adding that they remained committed to supporting his mental health and welfare.
UEFA also handed Coote a 16-month ban for bringing the game into disrepute.
Now, Coote has resurfaced working for Evri, delivering parcels near his home in Newark, Nottinghamshire. Speaking to The Sun, he explained that the job is helping him rebuild after his fall from grace.
“I’m just trying to make an honest living,” he said. “The job is keeping me busy and occupied… I’m doing what I want to do, focusing on what’s important like spending more time with friends and family.”
Coote, who refereed over 100 Premier League matches, gave an emotional interview earlier this year where he came out as gay and admitted using cocaine to escape the relentless pressures of refereeing.
“It fills me with a huge sense of shame to say that I took that route,” he said. “But I was struggling. Football became a place where I could go and be engrossed, but then I’d come home and be living a double sense of being.”
He explained that years of repressing his sexuality, combined with the intensity of elite football, led to poor decisions that ultimately ended his career.
Despite his apologies, Coote’s leaked remarks about Klopp caused widespread outrage. In the video, he calls the Liverpool manager “arrogant” and “a f*ing ct,” adding that he has no interest in speaking to him.
Coote later said he deeply regretted his language, saying it fell well short of the standards expected of a top-level official.
His story has since sparked wider conversations about mental health, LGBTQ+ representation, and the pressures of elite officiating, with some calling for better support systems within the game.