
Former referee David Coote charged by FA over Klopp comments
Former Premier League referee David Coote has been charged by the FA relating to comments he made on a social media clip last year.
He has already been sacked by the PGMOL since November of last year after what they described as a "thorough investigation".
They said: "David Coote's actions were found to be in serious breach of the provisions of his employment contract.
"Supporting David Coote continues to be important to us and we remain committed to his welfare."
He was subsequently banned by UEFA in February.
This comes after footage emerged of Coote sniffing a white powder while at Euro 2024.
As well as this, he was also accused of predetermining a yellow card with a fan at a Championship match in 2019, a claim which he was cleared of.
Coote was charged under rule E3.1, which purports that he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words.
The use of Klopp's nationality in the video constituted an "aggravated" breach according to the FA.
Coote came out as gay this January and said that he hid his sexuality within the game due to fears of abuse.

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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Bradley admits leaders Rovers are keen on Masterson coup
Conor Masterson would be of interest to Shamrock Rovers if the former Liverpool centre-back was to become available. Masterson (26) was in Tallaght on Friday to watch the Hoops swell their lead at the top of the table to 11 points following a 4-1 mauling of Cork City. He's just completed his season at English League Two Gillingham but is out of contract next week and yet to agree to an extension. Previously, he featured in the Championship for Queen's Park Rangers and was once part of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool first-team squad. He famously joined the Reds from his local Lucan United club in 2014 on a record package of €525,000. The defender from Celbridge has options to move up a tier to League One but both Damien Duff and Stephen Kenny are interested in bringing him to Shelbourne and St Patrick's Athletic respectively ahead of their European campaigns. Masterson was a regular during Kenny's year in charge of Ireland's U21s. Hoops boss Stephen Bradley was asked about the presence of Masterson as a club guest and while he stressed no talks have occurred he'd be open to exploring the prospect. Bradley has an embarrassment of riches in terms of squad depth, able to rest Jack Byrne, Graham Burke, Matt Healy and Lee Grace ahead from Friday with the derby against Bohemians in mind. Retaining freshness is his priority, evidenced by his strike force bolstered by the capture of Irish League sensation John McGovern from Dungannon Swifts. He'll be available after the window opens on June 1, the same date Masterson can join alternative employers. 'Look, Conor is a good player and there's no getting away from that,' admitted Bradley. 'He has been that since he was 14 years of age. We all remember that and that hasn't changed. 'We want good players here. I don't know what his plans are, I don't know anything about them and that's being genuine. 'I'm hearing that teams have offered him deals, I don't know how true it is. All I know is we haven't spoken to him. But if it's something that he was coming home, we'd obviously be interested in good players.'

The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
'For us, it's 68 years, so the people were allowed that' - Sam Mulroy loads up again
THE TROUBLE WITH Shangri-La, is eventually you have to go home and de-scale the kettle. While Sam Mulroy and the Louth team and management went bananas after bridging the 68-year gap back to their last Leinster title, it was fun and it was glorious. And for it to be Meath as the vanquished? Ah, stop! Too much! Too much! 'It was something that none of us, Louth or Meath, probably ever experienced as players. It was unbelievable. I think I was just saying to the few lads here today that like, I think All-Ireland final day has an awful lot of neutral people here,' says Mulroy now. 'Like, I'd be at All-Ireland final day, Louth are not involved, so whereas on Leister final day, it was Louth/Meath, and there were 60,000-plus people here shouting for either side. So yeah, it was noisy, it was electric, it was class.' But 13 days later, they went out in Newbridge against Monaghan and lost. However, they still had Down to come and felt good enough about themselves, right up to the point when they realised that their diesel was still a little dirty. They left themselves too much to do. Down deservedly won. Which left a final day out against Clare, who, let's face it, was their banker. The three point margin and flow of the game however, shows that it was far from comfortable. Bit of a hangover, then? 'Yeah, I think so,' admits Mulroy at the launch of the All-Ireland football series. 'I suppose winning Leinster has been the main goal over the last number of years for this group, so I suppose when you get there and you do it, maybe there is a case of coming down a little bit. 'There was obviously a lot of celebrating for a few days after, and you have to because, as I said, it took a long time to get there and you have to enjoy it and live in the moment for it. 'But yeah, our performances against Monaghan and then Down weren't up to scratch, and we knew then going into last weekend that, as you said, we have to win to stay in the Championship. Advertisement Sam Mulroy scores a penalty for Louth in the nip-and-tuck first half of the Leinster SFC final 📱 Updates - 📺 Watch - — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 11, 2025 'I don't know if we played better that way, but we were backs against the wall a little bit sometimes, so maybe it was the best thing for us. So yeah, I thought at times last week we were good, so hopefully coming back to some sort of form.' They have the unenviable task of an away day in Ballybofey – not quite the fortress now that Tyrone tore up Jim McGuinness' unbeaten record in Pairc MacCumhaill – but intimidating nonetheless. Before we get to that yet, let's stay in the warm bath of the Leinster final before it turns tepid. 'For us, it's 68 years, so the people were allowed that, it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing for a lot of people, and hopefully it comes around, hopefully the gap's not as big the next time. But I suppose it's hard to get back on track, maybe, even just for people around the county and talking about it and not getting caught up in that as well. 'I think it was a short turnaround of our training on the Wednesday, obviously with a job to do and we knew we were going into a tough group. It was a case of maybe you didn't get to bask in it as much as you'd like, but we enjoyed the few days we did get.' Few deserved the few days quite like Mulroy. He had sent a series of shots wide earlier in the game, but stepped up with 1-7 in total and a critical two-point free towards the end. We're finding ourselves asking forwards about a lot of critical finishing scores in this brave new world of rules in 2025. How does Mulroy keep a clear head in those situations? After all, he is the championship's leading scorer with 4-34 from six games so far, and the top scorer in the round robin, with 3-20, despite losing two of those three games. 'Moments come and pass and it's trying to stay on track, not get too caught up in it, and by the time I took the last kick, I'd completely forgotten about the few before, the few I missed at the start of the second half. Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE 'I was actually only watching the clips back with the boys on the Wednesday of training that you're like, 'why did I take that shot?' Or 'what was I doing there?'' The next bit is really, really interesting. Read twice if necessary. 'You nearly forget about them, and I think that's an ability and a skill that you develop over the years of just not getting too high and not getting too low with your shots or your chances or whatever it is, because the game's so fast and there's no time. 'I suppose a younger Sam maybe would have dwelled on them and let it get to me and affect me, but I suppose now as I've grown as a player, I've definitely learned to just move on and forget about it. 'I probably expected myself to score one or two of them, and I snatched that one on the top of the arc. I was probably trying to force it a little bit. 'I know the shots I've taken, I think I can definitely score them, and then it's just a case of probably feeling the moment a little bit more, understanding when you need to take the shot or is there a better opportunity to just keep the ball.' The partying, the few sherbets, the music and craic and stories and yarns were priceless. But in time, that stuff fades. What remains is how the children of Louth were inspired by a group of men who have become instant heroes. Only at the start of this week, the former Louth great JP Rooney forwarded Mulroy a video. It was of Rooney's soon, previously a football agnostic who wasn't bothered either way, he would never have been out with a football on his own. Then his father took him to the Leinster final. 'It was very nice to see that yesterday, that you're inspiring the next generation of players to be involved in GAA and want to play for their club or their county,' Mulroy says. 'And then I suppose, maybe there was a glass ceiling in Louth that we could never get over the line and win anything, and I suppose getting that job done, and then obviously the 20s and the minors doing really, really well as well, you're just hoping that people coming through in Louth don't see that there's a ceiling on this thing, you can go as far as we like.' All of this seemed a long way off when Mickey Harte took over in the winter of 2020 and Louth were a division 4 team. It looked just slightly less unlikely when Harte left after the 2023 season, having left Louth as a division 2 side and having reached a Leinster final. The feeling was of a team that had emptied themselves in a few seasons under an All-Ireland winning coach, and gravity would soon ensue. 'When Mickey Harte left I kind of felt, no matter who comes in there, it's a case of next man up and we keep going on this journey, and Ger (Brennan) came in with this team, and we've done rightly,' deadpans Mulroy. Related Reads 'We back you no matter what' - Shane Walsh on backing of Galway team mates 'Just a special talent' - 20 years on from Galway's 'Terrible Twins' brilliance in All-Ireland final 'You are used to being on the road' - Shane O'Donnell makes light of Donegal controversy 'Yeah, look, I think the group is an experienced group. We learned a lot under Mickey and Gavin, but I think the group realised that we didn't want it to stop there, so, yeah, it's a case of just keeping it going no matter who comes in. It brings them to Donegal and a man Mulroy knows well. In 2020 and 2021, Jim McGuinness was in helping out with Mulroy's club, Naomh Mairtín, when they won their first and second Louth county titles. They've had a few brief meetings since, a few snatched words at Ballyshannon for a league meeting and after last year's All-Ireland quarter final defeat. It would be good to catch up, Mulroy says. But they have miles to go before all that. 'We're not going up to Ballybofey for the craic or to fulfill a fixture,' he states. 'We're in a prelim quarterfinal for the All-Ireland series and we played in a quarter-final here last year. so it's a case of let's try and go better again this year and try and progress as a team. As I said it won't be just to fulfill a fixture and just let Donegal go through into a quarter-final.' * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here


Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Premier League legend declared bankrupt as €2.3m mansion listed on court order
Ex-Premier League footballer Lee Clark, known for his time at Newcastle United, Sunderland, and Fulham, has been hit with bankruptcy due to a debt owed to One Stop Business, a finance company based in York. The insolvency notice was officially recorded in the London Gazette, which means Clark's assets are now frozen under the authority of the Insolvency Service. His bank accounts, savings and other valuable assets could be used to pay his unsecured creditors if he does not address the debt. He told the Mirror that he was unaware of the bankruptcy order when we called at his £2m mansion in Jesmond, Newcastle. Asked about being made bankrupt, he said: "I have no idea," before going back into the property. When we called again, he added: "I have no comment to make. I know nothing. Don't keep pressing the buzzer." Clark, who notched up over 200 appearances across two stints with Newcastle United, also celebrated promotions to the Premier League with both Fulham and Sunderland, clocking up more than 400 top-tier matches and earning caps for England's under-21 side, reports the Mirror. His career kicked off at Newcastle as part of Kevin Keegan's 'Entertainers' squad in the 1990s, and he made a controversial £2.5m switch to Sunderland in 1997, where he eventually fell out of favour with fans during Peter Reid's management tenure. He was spotted wearing a T-shirt bearing a derogatory slogan aimed at 'Sad Mackem B******s' at the 1999 FA Cup final. He did not play for the club again, but moved to Fulham before a brief return to Newcastle. Following his retirement from playing in 2006, Clark took up management roles at Huddersfield, Birmingham City, and Blackpool, as well as coaching stints in Sudan and Oman. His son Bobby has followed in his footballing footsteps, having played for Liverpool and then moving on to RB Salzburg. Despite the controversial end to his Sunderland tenure, Clark was a fan favourite and a key player during their promotion-winning 1998/99 season, even wearing the captain's armband on occasion. More recently, he's been sharing his insights as a television and radio pundit. When asked by former Sunderland striker Ally McCoist on talkSPORT if he wanted the Black Cats to win the play-off final, Clark responded: "Do you know what Ally? "I've said this all the time, and my pals will tell you this, whoever spoke to us, I want Sunderland in the Premier League. I want the derby games back. I would love Middlesbrough in the Premier League. I want the North East clubs back. "Let's get North East football back on the map."