Former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded guilty to making an indecent image of a child. The former official appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday in connection with a Category A video, which is considered the most serious type of offense. The charges relate to a video recovered by police in February.

Coote was previously in court on this matter in September, where he initially pleaded not guilty. At that hearing, he confirmed his name and date of birth. He was granted conditional bail at the time, with a plea and trial preparation hearing scheduled for October 9.

The charge of making an indecent image of a child encompasses activities such as downloading, sharing, or saving abuse photos or videos.

Coote's career as a referee has been turbulent in recent years. He was sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), the English refereeing body, in December of last year. This dismissal followed the surfacing of a video where he made disparaging comments about then-Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.

Furthermore, Coote faced a ban from officiating by UEFA, the European governing body, until June 2026. This ban stemmed from a separate video that emerged, allegedly showing him snorting a white powder through a banknote while in Germany for Euro 2024.

In January of this year, Coote publicly came out as gay, stating that he had concealed his sexuality due to fears of potential abuse if it became public knowledge. He also suggested that the struggle to hide his sexuality had contributed to poor decision-making.