Maddy Cusack's Struggles: Inquest Reveals Manager's Impact Before Her Death

Former Sheffield United midfielder Maddy Cusack was left feeling anxious, paranoid and targeted by her manager in the months before her death, an inquest has heard.

Cusack, 27, was found unconscious by her father David at the family home in Horsley, Derbyshire, on 20 September 2023 and died later that day.

At Chesterfield Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, former team-mate and partner Grace Riglar described how the arrival of manager Jonathan Morgan at Sheffield United Women reopened old wounds from Cusack’s previous spell under him at Leicester City.

“Psycho” comment and “mind games”

Riglar told the inquest that Cusack had been uneasy from the moment Morgan was appointed, based on what had happened when he coached her at Leicester.

“I think it was stuff she told me about her previous experience prior to Jonathan coming to Sheffield,” Riglar said.

She recalled Cusack describing a game in which, from the touchline, Morgan allegedly shouted “psycho” at her after something she did on the pitch. Cusack, Riglar said, did not show outwardly that those words had cut deep, but in private admitted they had.

“I don't think she let anyone know those types of comments affected her, but they did and they made her uncomfortable,” Riglar told the court.

When Morgan took over at Sheffield United, Cusack’s status shifted. A regular starter and key figure, she suddenly found herself in and out of the team.

“She was used to starting every game, she was an important member of the team. When Jonathan came, she was in and out from the starting team a bit,” Riglar said.

Her demotion hit hard.

“Her going from starting, to being on the bench quite a lot... she saw that as a setback. That impacted her a lot,” Riglar added. “I just think she almost felt like it was a bit of a personal attack, and that Jonathan was playing mind games with her by starting her one week and dropping her the next.”

Relationship under scrutiny

The inquest also heard that Morgan addressed players’ personal lives from the outset.

When he joined the club, Riglar said, he told the squad in their first meeting that anyone in a relationship within the team had to disclose it to him.

Riglar and Cusack, who were together, had tried to keep their private life separate from their professional environment. That line, Riglar suggested, was blurred by the manager.

“She found it uncomfortable when Jonathan would call me ‘Mrs Cusack’, especially in front of other players,” Riglar said.

“We wanted to keep our relationship very professional. The football side and relationship side were very separate.”

Weight comments and changing habits

Riglar also told the court that Morgan commented on Cusack’s weight. After that, she said, Cusack altered her eating and training regime in ways that alarmed those close to her.

The midfielder, already regarded by Riglar as “one of the fittest players on the team anyway”, began cutting out carbohydrates, skipping breakfast and going on extra runs after training.

The inquest heard that as the new season began, Cusack’s mental state deteriorated. Riglar said her partner had become “paranoid” and felt increasingly isolated within the club environment.

“She didn't really have anyone she could speak to without it getting back to Jonathan,” Riglar said.

Looking for a way out

Away from the pitch, the court was told, Cusack had been signed off sick by a doctor from both her part-time playing duties and her full-time marketing role at Sheffield United.

She was also thinking about a different life entirely.

The inquest heard that shortly before her death, Cusack told Riglar she wanted to move to Dubai and work as a flight attendant, and had been searching online for new jobs.

Those plans, and the career that had made her a central figure at Sheffield United, ended on that September day in Horsley.