Immediately the conspiracy theories began over referee David Coote’s decisions against Liverpool.
Most football fans in most leagues in most countries can name a referee they believe is ‘biased’ against their team. It’s the dull discourse that can fuel the days between matches, the hours at the pub, the social media montages.
The extraordinary and damaging video that appears to show Coote making derogatory comments about Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, which led to his suspension by the PGMOL, will only fuel those flames.
The video could end up being heralded by certain supporters as the watershed moment they have craved. Proof at last that those referees are against us.
If verified, the 42-year-old’s comments may not only have jeopardised his career – one in which he has officiated in the Premier League since 2018, an international match and a Carabao Cup final – but have also risked tarnishing the reputation of referees from top to bottom.
Social media and the internet is, already and inevitably, awash with video packages casting suspicion over decisions Coote has been involved in during Liverpool matches.
There was even mention of his arm-waving dismissal as recently as Sunday afternoon when Mo Salah tumbled over as he burst through against Aston Villa. An argument which conveniently overlooks the fact that Coote’s ‘bias’ did not stretch to awarding Villa either of two potential penalties when Ollie Watkins and Pau Torres went over.
But rationality is a drop in the ocean compared to the tidal wave of conspiracy – and it leaves the PGMOL, led by chief refereeing officer Howard Webb, under pressure not merely to act but to stem that deluge.
It must immediately be acknowledged that the PGMOL has already strived to provide greater transparency. It is why Webb regularly analyses decisions and releases audio on Match Officials: Mic’d Up on Sky Sports.
But now they might have to go further. Could, for instance, Webb publicly tackle the questions of integrity and release the ‘allegiances list’ of his officials?
It is a question that was raised last season when Nottingham Forest were fined £750,000 for a social media post following a defeat to Everton which claimed the VAR for the game, Stuart Attwell, was a fan of their relegation rivals Luton Town.
“We warned the PGMOL that the VAR [Attwell] is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him,” said Forest.
Webb and other PGMOL officials decide which officials will be appointed to each Premier League match and their selections are based, in part, around ‘allegiance forms’ submitted by all referees in which they disclose the teams they support, and any others they have connections with.
An official who is a Birmingham City fan should never be allowed to referee Aston Villa, for example. However, that official would be allowed to officiate a match involving West Bromwich Albion because, while there is a rivalry with Birmingham there, it is not deemed a strict conflict of interest.
Coote is registered as a Notts County fan with the PGMOL and therefore cannot officiate matches involving Nottingham Forest. Jarred Gillett is, at least according to internet sleuths, a Liverpool fan and does not referee Everton matches. Anthony Taylor is an Altrincham fan yet some Chelsea fans believe he has an agenda against them.
In September, Taylor was stood down from refereeing a Premier League game after receiving abuse on social media following Chelsea’s 1-0 win at Bournemouth.
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean has previously admitted he failed to correct a mistake in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham in 2022 to avoid his “mate” Taylor getting extra “grief”.
In reality, there is no such thing as being neutral. The challenge for referees is to call a red card a red card despite their personal feelings towards a player, manager, club, supporters or their “mates”.
Coote, as well as appearing to make a xenophobic comment about Klopp, also appears to call him arrogant. The ex-Liverpool manager’s behaviour towards officials once went so over the top that he pulled his hamstring celebrating in the face of a fourth official.
“You didn’t see f****** anything. You didn’t see anything the whole game apart from f****** booking him in the last minute,” said Andy Robertson to Coote after Liverpool were denied a penalty against Burnley in 2020.
One question not being asked around the Coote video is why anyone is surprised. Or, to put it another way, would you think well of someone who subjected you to such a barrage of abuse? Not that it absolves Coote, of course.
He has allowed himself to end up in a position where his public comments about Klopp and Liverpool – if confirmed – will invite questions about his integrity – and by extension put his colleagues under greater scrutiny. Refereeing in the top flight of English football will have never suffered such a test of its credibility as this.