Mike Dean opens up on David Coote text and referee's return after leaked Liverpool video

Former Premier League referee Mike Dean says he was ‘astounded’ when he saw the leaked David Coote video, although he still feels the official could make a return to football.

Coote is under investigation from the PGMOL and the FA after a video was shared on social media allegedly showing the 42-year-old delivering a foul-mouthed rant about Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp. In it, he is seen referring to the Reds as “s***” and calls the former manager a “German c***”.

The PGMOL has suspended Coote pending an investigation, while the referee has reportedly claimed responsibility for the video, although he insists he doesn’t recall the incident. The Times also reports that he could face being charged by the FA for an “aggravated breach” of its rules due to his rant on Klopp.

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Dean, who retired as an on-field referee in 2022 and now works in the media, regularly appearing on Sky Sports’ coverage, has revealed he contacted Coote after the video came out.

“As referees, you can’t put yourself in that position,” Dean told Sky Sports News. “It doesn’t matter what you do, you can say things away from camera, you can talk amongst your friends and colleagues, but you can’t let somebody video this and then hope it’s never going to come out.

“Dave’s one of the quieter referees of the group to be fair. I’ll be honest, I texted him yesterday, he’s still a colleague in a way, just to see how he was, that’s all I did, and he just replied to me with a message that I wouldn’t disclose to anybody.

“He’ll be devastated today, I think like most of the referees will be devastated that somebody’s actually gone in and done this video. Obviously Dave’s in the video, but to go and release it, if it is verified three or four years after it’s supposedly been done, then I’m very surprised at that as well.

“I don’t know what the process will be, I’ve got a rough idea what it might entail, but I think it’s just one of those things that’s completely out of the blue. You don’t expect this kind of thing to happen, yes you may say one or two things away from camera or in general chat with your friends or colleagues, but you certainly don’t put something like this on video and hope it’s never going to come out.”

Dean though hasn’t ruled out Coote making a return to football in the future, but he did admit the video will have a damaging effect across the English game.

“I don’t think it damages his career beyond repair,” Dean added. “I’d like to think that because it’s one of these things that’s never happened before, I don’t know what line the PGMOL will go down. They obviously need to get the correct investigation in place, where the source of the video came from, David’s full story about what’s gone on, how long ago it was, what was said, where he was when actually did the video.

“I’d like to think they can come to some kind of agreement, and it also depends on what’s gone on with David with all this media attention, would David still want to carry on refereeing? That’s the bigger picture you’ve got to think of, it doesn’t just affect David, it affects his friends and family as well, so does he want to put himself through it yet again?

“I think all the way from the top right down to the bottom, I’m talking right down to the bottom, it’ll devastate referees from grassroots all the way to the Football League. You’ve just got to be so careful of what you say, and it’s so out of character for David to do. I was astounded when I saw it.”