Former Premier League referee David Coote has admitted to making an indecent image of a child after appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.
The 43-year-old, from Collingham in Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to one charge involving a category A video, the most serious level under UK law. Police recovered the footage during an investigation in February this year.
Court proceedings
Judge Nirmal Shant KC granted Coote conditional bail and ordered a pre-sentence report ahead of the next hearing on 11 December.
“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,” the judge said.
The court heard that Coote had extracted the explicit video from a hard drive to a laptop on 2 January 2020. The charge of making an indecent image covers activities such as downloading, saving, or sharing abusive material.
During the brief six-minute hearing, Coote — dressed in a navy suit and black tie — spoke only to confirm his name and enter the guilty plea. The judge cautioned him, saying, “You must not go away with the impression that this will not lead to a custodial sentence.”
Background and previous actions
Coote began officiating in the Premier League in 2018 and was once part of England’s elite group of referees. However, he was dismissed last year after a video surfaced showing him making derogatory remarks about former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.
In August 2025, the Football Association also imposed an eight-week suspension over the same footage. Earlier this year, Coote spoke publicly about his struggles with sexuality, saying that hiding his identity contributed to the comments made in the 2020 video.
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