David Coote from Winthorpe referees Carabao Cup between Mancester United and Newcastle United at Wembley

It has been an amazing journey for football referee David Coote, which culminated in him officiating the final of the recent Carabao Cup.

Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2-0 in the game played at Wembley, which Coote took charge of, in a career-first.

He was assisted by Nick Hopton and Tim Wood.

Manchester United reached the final by beating Nottingham Forest in their two-legged semi-final. Newcastle overcame Southampton.

Newcastle United was one of the teams that Coote refereed in his first Premier League game in 2018.

He has since gone on to ref over 80 games.

Coote, from Winthorpe, started officiating aged 12, as a linesman in the Newark Alliance.

At 16, he started refereeing and worked his way up through the football pyramid.

Coote was selected to referee the massive fixture at a time when fellow officials have faced tough criticism in recent weeks with some VAR calls having perplexed viewers.

The referee worked for the Notts FA between 2004 and 2012 and also worked for the Manchester County FA until 2016.

“Each referee only gets the chance to officiate each domestic final once, so there are only two occasions we can officiate at Wembley for a major domestic final — the Carabao Cup Final and the FA Cup Final,” an honoured Coote explained in the match’s official programme.