The PGMOL have told The Chronicle the footballing allegiance of David Coote following his appointment as the man in the middle for the upcoming Carabao Cup Final between Newcastle and Manchester United.
Don’t believe everything you see on social media
An image has been circulating online amongst the Newcastle fans showing a mocked up Facebook profile page of David Coote and a picture of Old Trafford as his banner heavily suggesting that he’s a Manchester United fan and therefore couldn’t possibly be impartial when the sides meet at Wembley on 26th of February.
NUFC Twitter went into complete meltdown last night when the image surfaced and it spread like wildfire through the online community.
All officials have to be up front with the PGMOL over their allegiances so that games can be assigned to them fairly. For example, Premier League official, Michael Oliver is a Newcastle fan and as such has never taken charge of a game involving the Magpies.
David Coote, meanwhile, has already taken charge of two Manchester United games this season, overseeing their wins over Aston Villa and Everton. The fact that both games featuring Coote as the referee ended with Manchester United wins likely didn’t do anything to quell the rumours.
Coote’s history with Newcastle isn’t great
Newcastle haven’t had the pleasure of a David Coote-reffed game this season, but do have a history with the Nottingham-born whistler after he failed to award a blatant penalty to Newcastle in the game against Chelsea last season.
Aaron Stokes of The Chronicle reached out to the PGMOL for clarification and were told that Coote is a life-long Notts County supporter which should put Geordie minds at ease at least a little bit.
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