Revealed: David Coote confided in former Scottish footballer back in 2022
Revealed: David Coote confided in former Scottish footballer back in 2022
Share:
Former footballer Zander Murray has revealed that David Coote reached out to him back in 2022 after he first came out as gay. Coote was dismissed as a Premier League referee in December 2024 after the emergence of videos earlier in the year that saw him call ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp 'a German ****'.
![[David Coote admits he turned to drugs as a way to escape from the stresses of his job]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/28/16/94576953-0-David_Coote_admits_he_turned_to_drugs_as_a_way_to_escape_from_th-a-2_1738081822503.jpg)
Footage also emerged alleging to show him sniffing a white powder through a rolled-up bank note. It was apparently taken during the summer's European Championship. The PGMOL found Coote's actions made his position as a Premier League official 'untenable' and the organisation headed up by Howard Webb terminated his employment with immediate effect.
![[The former referee has come out as gay in an emotional interview a month after being sacked]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/28/16/94575319-0-David_Coote_has_come_out_as_gay_in_an_emotional_interview_a_mont-a-3_1738081828417.jpg)
However in an exclusive interview with The Sun earlier this week, Coote revealed that he turned to drugs over fear of coming out in the 'macho world' of the Premier League. In the wake of his brave announcement, though, Murray - the first Scottish footballer to come out as gay three years ago - told talkSPORT that Coote had been quick to offer his own support back in 2022.
![[Murray scored 11 goals in 41 games before hanging up his boots at the end of 2023-24]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/28/16/94601881-0-image-a-4_1738081896079.jpg)
Zander Murray became Scotland's first openly gay men's footballer back in 2022. David Coote admits he turned to drugs as a way to escape from the stresses of his job. The former referee has come out as gay in an emotional interview a month after being sacked.
![[When the PGMOL sacked Coote last month, they vowed to provide him with support]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/28/16/94577041-0-When_the_PGMOL_sacked_Coote_last_month_they_vowed_to_provide_him-a-5_1738082544439.jpg)
'David reached out to me when I came out, when I was getting a bit of media onslaught, when I was getting homophobic abuse on social media,' Murray revealed. 'I was just reading through the messages again and there's no doubt about it, he resonated with my story back then and he was really, really struggling with his own sexuality back then.
![[In one leaked video, Coote made disparaging remarks about ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/28/16/94576977-0-In_one_leaked_video_Coote_made_disparaging_remarks_about_ex_Live-a-6_1738082548007.jpg)
.jpg?trim=85,0,86,0&quality=75&auto=webp&width=1000)
-Cropped.png?width=1200&auto=webp)