Here is the NFFC news

I saw David Coote at a Harborough Town game last season, he was with someone I know from work. Left them to it as he seemed to be there in some sort of working capacity.

Later caught up with person I know (who is a friend of Cootes and went with him as lives nearby) and it turns out he was their watching the ref that he is/was a mentor for.

I find things like this a bit sad. Career ruined at 42 for some comments made in private that aren’t even that bad. Klopp is a cunt, most people can see he’s a cunt. But he will be hung out to dry as that’s what bodies like the PGMOL do.

Maybe he will be able to drop down like Madely did, after also being stitched up by a ‘mate’ over comments he made that were recorded.

Agreed.

My Scouse chums are doing little to dispel the myth of "Self Pity City"

In their defence (which pains me to say), can you imagine the reaction of our "fanbase" if some Scouse ref had been recorded saying similar about Nuno and our owner (which given their behaviour towards refs, the officials would be entirely entitled to).
There's already a massive chip on both shoulders of Robin Hood that PGMOL/Var/Anthony Taylor/Craig Pawson/Stuart 'Luton fan' Attwell have got it in for us.
It's the same with the bindippers

Henry Winter's take on it:

The David Coote story is a question of trust. Referees have to be careful of who they trust around them. It’s naïve and risky to voice critical thoughts, and plain thick to do so if aware you’re being recorded. Careless talk costs careers. It’s also a question of fans, players and managers having trust in referees. A mix of paranoia and tribalism has produced a sulphurous reaction that PGMOL has to tackle to protect the image of the game. It’s obviously right to order swiftly a full investigation into the video circulating on social media and give Coote a chance to explain/defend himself and address the allegation of any agenda. Many fans believe refs generally have it in for their teams; this is not a one-club issue. It's certainly not a great generation of officials, the game’s got faster, there’s more grappling and simulation, and the scrutiny and abuse is more intense than ever.

They’re trying to improve standards via further investment in grass-roots refereeing, fast-tracking ex-players and academy graduates who don’t make the grade and specialist VARs. But even more is required, as is clamping down on the abuse young refs get in grass-roots from parents, coaches, players that put them off continuing.

As for recruiting foreign refs, they’re not perfect, and some do get criticised in their own leagues. More match-day accountability and transparency, properly explaining decisions, is needed here, not waiting a fortnight for Howard Webb to be “mic’d up”. Communication matters. So does trust.

He's nothing like Beckham.

Sorry I'm thick, is this Ben Kitt chap the ex partner of Coote and the other one in the video?

I believe he's the other one in the video, on account of having the same face, but no idea if he's his ex-partner.

I’ve seen some absolute shocking refs at u8 level, usually kids themselves who have just done the course but have no presences and just aren’t suitable. I don’t want to sound mean but it just the attracts youngsters who aren’t good at anything else and sadly aren’t good at being a ref either.

It feels like a tougher gig at non league level than PL. obviously doesn’t have the scrutiny but lots of abuse from idiots in the crowd (some places much worse than others) but without the protection and constant screaming from players and coaching staff at every decision. And sadly it seems a case of it does have an impact on the refs decisons. Don’t scream and be nice about things and you don’t get decisions.

Refs aren’t deliberately rubbish, but many just are and don’t help themselves. It’s also a very hard job. I can’t be the only one who sees an incident take place and also can’t be really sure how bad it was/what exactly happened.

I stopped coaching largely because of parents. Final straw was when one parent stormed round the pitch to have a go because his son wasn't starting yet again. His boy arrived late and said he couldn't be arsed warming up so we couldn't be arsed starting him His boy was one of the two most disruptive kids who had to stand out in just about every training session and taking out one of the 2 or 3 coaches to deal with them.

Yes. For me, the problem with VAR is that when you have all that tech and take all that time to check footage, you're setting yourself up to be perfect. Decisions have to be absolutely and demonstrably 100% correct, 100% of the time. If we're going to start accepting that to err is to be human, there's no point in the technology. In my view, we should kill VAR and just let refs ref. Won't happen of course because the multitude of pundits and global TV companies have a vested interest in controversy because it fills airtime and makes money, and nobody cares what the fans in the stadium think because we have no clout. I reckon almost all fans who actually go would get rid of VAR.