Recent events surrounding David Coote have sparked plenty of conversation, especially among Arsenal fans.
The Premier League referee has been suspended after footage emerged apparently showing him branding Liverpool ‘s***’ and Jurgen Klopp a ‘German c***’.
The video, believed to be several years old, quickly went viral, prompting the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to launch an investigation on Monday.
Fans online were quick to have their say on the matter, with Coote’s comments leading many to reflect on the times where they felt their teams had been unfairly treated by match officials.
And it didn’t take long for an Arsenal supporter to jokingly bring up one of the most controversial matches of the Premier League era.
Back in October 2004, the Gunners were beaten 2-0 by Manchester United in an explosive encounter which saw the end of the Invincibles’ 49-game unbeaten league run.
But it was former referee Mike Riley who was at the centre of the controversy that day, with Arsenal left seething at his handling of the Old Trafford clash.
This was clearly at the forefront of one fan’s mind in the wake of the Coote saga, who wrote on X: “20 years ago Mike Riley did something 10x worse on tape.
“Then instead of an immediate suspension, he got promoted to the head of the PGMOL from 2009-2023.
“We don’t forget.”
Alongside this, the supporter uploaded a video compiling some of Riley’s most controversial decisions from the clash.
Included in the clip was a shocking high challenge from Ruud van Nistelrooy on Ashley Cole, which went unpunished at the time but later saw the Dutchman retrospectively banned for three matches.
Having remained on the pitch however, Arsenal’s fury was then compounded as United took the lead through van Nistelrooy, who converted a penalty which also saw Riley draw criticism.
The decision to award the spot-kick is shown in the compilation, where Wayne Rooney goes to ground after receiving minimal contact.
Rooney then scored the Red Devils’ second goal to seal the win, with tempers flaring after the match as the Gunners raged.
A brawl ensued as the players headed down the tunnel, with former Gunners midfielder Cesc Fabregas later admitting to throwing a slice of pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson, leading to the infamous clash being dubbed the ‘Battle of the Buffet’.
But the fall-out would bring even more drama, as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was fined £15,000 and charged with improper conduct for his explosive post-match comments.
The Frenchman fumed: “Riley decided the game, like we know he can do at Old Trafford. We were robbed.
“There was no contact at all for the penalty, even Rooney said so. We can only master our own performance and not the referee’s performance.
“We all know him [Van Nistelrooy], he can only cheat people who don’t know him.”
Despite Wenger’s furious rant, Riley received no scrutiny for his performance that day, and continued to referee in England’s top-flight until his retirement in 2009.
Following this, the Leeds-born official was appointed manager of the PGMOL in 2009, the body responsible for overseeing match officials, a role he held until the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
