Who do England’s top officials support? David Coote is not allowed to officiate ONE Premier League side, Michael Oliver has been caught in his colours, and Liverpool do not have access to several referees

The topic of where Premier League referees’ allegiances lie is rather rife right now after a video of David Coote lambasting Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp was leaked yesterday. 

Coote appeared to call Klopp a ‘German c***’ and ‘f***ing arrogant’, while calling Liverpool ‘s***’, in a video that is seemingly several years old.

The referee has since been suspended by chiefs at the Professional Game Match Officials Limited while the organisation investigate the authenticity of the footage in question.

An argument has now ensued within the footballing community as supporters begin to doubt the impartiality of those who are trusted to referee the professional game without bias.

Referees are required to disclose the team they support to the PGMOL, the body responsible for refereeing games in England. They are then barred from taking charge of certain teams. Mail Sport takes a look at who English football’s best referees follow.

Coote and former Liverpool boss Klopp had several run-ins with each other over the years

The incident has called referees integrity into question, so Mail Sport takes a look at who English football’s best referees support

Sam Allison

Allison is one of the fresher faces on the scene after rising through the leagues to make his Premier League refereeing debut in December 2023. 

He is a former professional player himself and once donned the shirt of Bournemouth, however, it has not stopped him taking charge of their games.

Stuart Attwell

Coote is certainly not the first Premier League referee to have their righteousness called in to question. 

Just last season, Attwell was accused of bias by Nottingham Forest and their owner Evangelos Marinakis due to the referee being a Luton Town fan, who the East Midlands side were in a relegation battle with. 

Peter Bankes

It is not known where Bankes’ allegiances lie. However, he hails from Liverpool, and has never been in the middle whenever Everton or the current Premier League leaders are involved. 

Samuel Barrott

Barrott is yet another referee whose fandom is unknown. He hails from West Riding in Yorkshire, but that is not a problem this campaign as there are currently no clubs from the county in the division, not that he supports any of them anyway.

Darren Bond

Many people believe that you should ‘support your local’ and Darren Bond certainly follows that mantra. 

From Wigan, Bond supports the League One Latics, however, he too has never been involved when Liverpool or Everton are in action. 

Stuart Attwell was accused of bias by Nottingham Forest due to the referee being a Luton fan

Forest issued an incendiary statement in the wake of a 2-0 defeat to Everton last season

Darren Bond is one of the many officials who does not take charge of Liverpool and Everton

Thomas Bramall

Thomas Bramall’s roots are form Sheffield and hedoes not officiate either of Sheffield United or Sheffield Wednesday whenever they play. Luckily for him, neither of the two teams are in the top flight. 

John Brookes 

Another referee who has felt the wrath of Nottingham Forest is John Brookes. His integrity was also questioned by Marinakis after their 2-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park last season, in which Attwell was the VAR official. Due to being from Leicestershire, Brookes is believed to be a Leicester City fan.

David Coote

Now it’s the one you have all been waiting for. While Coote seemingly has a distaste for Liverpool, as seen in the leaked video, his opinions do not stem from supporting a close rival. 

Coote is from Nottinghamshire and actually supports League Two side Notts County – this means he can’t officiate any Forest matches. 

Darren England 

Darren England is a referee who adoes Barnsley, having also workjed for the club in the past. If the Tykes ever make it back to the Premier League, he will be kept away from their games with a 10ft barge pole.

Sunny Singh Gill

The first British Asian referee to officiate in the Premier League, Sunny Singh Gill, hails from West London. However, it is not known who he supports and clubs such as Chelsea, Brentford, and Fulham may even see him take charge of their fixtures in the future.

Jarred Gillett

Jarred Gillett’s fandom has been a topic of discussion this season due to his known affection for Liverpool. He is of course, not allowed to officiate when the Reds are involved, neither when Everton take to the field. 

However, Gillett has previously been in the middle when Liverpool’s greatest rivals, Manchester United, have been involved. He took charge of their mammoth 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace last season.

Coote is a Notts County fan and can only not officiate Nottingham Forest in the top flight

Despite being a Liverpool fan, Jarred Gillett (left) is allowed to officiate Manchester United

Tony Harrington

As you have seen already, many Premier League referee’s support clubs outside of the Premier League, and this is the case of Hartlepool fan Tony Harrington. He is a follower of the fifth-tier side and his grandfather, Tommy McGuigan, is a legend of the club having played for them during the 1950s.

Simon Hooper 

Just like his colleague Allison (not the Liverpool goalkeeper), Simon Hooper was once a player. He was in the academy of the team he supports, Swindon Town, until he was released by the Wiltshire side at just 16 years of age.

Rob Jones 

Rob Jones is another referee who does not officiate either Liverpool or Everton due to the fact he hails from the Wirral, which is on Merseyside. 

It is assumed he must have an allegiance with either the red or blue half as former colleague Mike Dean, who is also from the Wirral, once took charge of the Merseyside Derby as it is well known his love lies with Tranmere Rovers.

Chris Kavanagh

He may hail from Greater Manchester, but that has not stopped Chris Kavanagh officiating both Manchester United and Manchester City. The reason for that is because he is a supporter of non-League side, Droylsden.

Andrew Madley 

Andrew Madley is yet another referee who had a crack at becoming a footballer when still in his youth. He supports Huddersfiled Town, who currently lie in League One, and was once amongst their academy stars before he decided to become an official. 

Robert ‘Bobby’ Madley

Andrew’s younger brother Robert, better known as Bobby, is also a Premier League referee and unsurprisingly follows the Terriers too. 

Bobby Madley is an official who will know how Coote is feeling at this moment in time as his career nearly came to an end in 2018 after he quit the game. 

A year later, it was revealed that he was in fact dismissed by PGMOL after he filmed a video appearing to mock a disabled person. Madley returned to the organisation a year later and began officiating in the top flight once more in 2022.

Chris Kavanagh is from Greater Manchester but is allowed to referee the Manchester Derby

Bobby Madley was sacked in 2019 after appearing to mock a disabled person but has since returned to refereeing in the Premier League

Michael Oliver 

It is no secret who Michael Oliver supports. the highly-regarded referee is a well-known Newcastle fan and can’t take charge of his beloved Geordies, or in fact their rivals.

A photo of the official adorning the Magpies home strip from 2019-20 is regularly posted on social media if supporters feel their team have been hard done by when he is in charge. 

Craig Pawson

Many people have suggested that Craig Pawson is a fan of Manchester City in the past, but that is strictly not true. 

He is a Sheffield United fan who was not allowed to take charge of any Blades matches when they were in the Premier League last season. 

Tim Robinson

Tim Robinson, who is from West Sussex, has no conflicts with any side in the Premier League and has officiated the majority of teams in one way or another – whether that be in the top flight or Championship. 

Michael Salisbury

Liverpool and Everton do not have access to a lot of officials and Michael Salisbury is another one to add to the list. 

Salisbury is actually from Lancashire, but is not allowed to take charge of the Merseyside clubs, although it is not clear who he supports. 

Michael Oliver’s love for Newcastle is regularly posted about by rival fans on social media

Craig Pawson is one of the many referees who does not support a Premier League club

Graham Scott

We have another Swindown Town fan on this list and it’s a certain Graham Scott. It is believed that he is allowed to officiate all 20 Premier League clubs, whether that’s in the VAR booth, or in the middle.

Josh Smith

One of the youngest referees in English system, Josh Smith, has only been refereeing in the top flight for a number of seasons. 

From Peterborough, Smith is not allowed to referee his hometown club, although he has no conflicts with any sides in the Premier League.

Anthony Taylor 

Now, I know that many of you readers will have been waiting to see who Anthony Taylor supports. The rumour mill regarding who Taylor follows has been spinning for years.

Many believe he must be either a Manchester United or Manchester City fan, seeing as he is from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester, where the likes of Marcus Rashford found their true calling.

The fact is, Taylor disclosed to the PGMOL that he is actually an Altrincham supporter, and therefore has been in the middle for many a Manchester Derby, despite his roots.

Paul Tierney

Last but not least we have the well-reknowned Paul Tierney. From Wigan, and supports Wigan. Just like his Darren Bond, although he has refereed Liverpool on many occasions. 

Former Liverpool boss, Klopp, took issue with Tierney on many occasions, even accusing the referee of bias after a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in 2023. 

Anthony Taylor is from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester but referees big games involving United

Paul Tierney also had a frosty relationship with Klopp while he was at the helm on Merseyside

Retired referees 

We may as well take a trip back in time, right? While the catalogue of current Premier League referees is relevant now, for those of you out there who have had an inkling about who officials of the past support, this section is for you.

I will start with Howard Webb, the referees chief, who many joked had a soft spot for Manchester United during his career in the middle. He actually supports his hometown club Rotherham United.

Meanwhile, highly-regarded former referee Graham Poll is a QPR fan who hails from Hitchin in Hertfordshire. Meanwhile, Mark Clattenberg, like Oliver, is a Newcastle fan and never refereed a match involving the Magpies.

Referees chief Howard Webb recently admitted to being a Rotherham United supporter

Mark Clattenberg is a Newcastle fan and never refereed a match involving the Magpies

We have already referenced the infamous Dean, who is an avid Tranmere supporter, so let’s move on to his namesake Mike Riley, who is from Leeds. Sadly, we are unsure who the former referees chief supports.

The same can’t be said about former official, Mark Halsey, though. Just like Poll, Halsey supports QPR and was not allowed to referee the west London club’s games before hanging up his whistle in 2013.