Maddy Cusack: Ex-Sheffield United midfielder ‘would still be alive’ if coach hadn’t joined club, inquest says | football news

Former Sheffield United player Maddie Cusack would still be alive if the women’s team coach had not been appointed by the club, her mother told an inquest.

Chesterfield Coroner’s Court heard that Ms Cusack, 27, was found unresponsive at her home address in Horsley, Derbyshire, on September 20, 2023 after her manager, Jonathan Morgan, made comments about her weight and relationship to “belittle her”.

Ms Cusack’s family sent a written complaint to Sheffield United following her death, outlining the problems arising from her relationship with Mr Morgan.

On Thursday, Ms Cusack’s mother Deborah Cusack told the inquest that Mr Morgan was like her daughter’s “nemesis”, referred to as the “prison warden” in messages between teammates.

Under cross-examination by Mr Morgan, who is representing himself at the inquest, Ms Cusack said: “You have to understand that I don’t blame you for what he did but you made him feel how he felt.

“It’s little knocks every time. You’ve got to come in and cut him down to size.

“He was one of (Sheffield United’s) best-known players. Like you did at Leicester (City), you need to be in control.

“There’s a direct line — if you weren’t on the job, Maddie would be here today.”

Ms Cusack said her daughter, who also worked in the club’s marketing department, was “absolutely devastated” about Mr Morgan joining the club due to her experience working with him at Leicester City a few years ago and worried that “history was repeating itself”.

He told the court: “It’s like your nemesis coming back, isn’t it?

“As a family we have never encountered such a character before. We don’t play mind games.”

Speaking about Ms Cusack’s time playing under Mr Morgan at Leicester, mum said: “She had a terrible, terrible time there.

“She was glad to be out of the situation. It was a terrible time.”

The inquest heard that Mr Morgan told Ms Cusack she was “bottom heavy” after joining United, prompting the player to “try and get fitter and slimmer” by changing her eating habits and running after training.

Ms Cusack said: “It undermined Madeleine and destroyed her confidence and everything she knew because you were questioning the state of her fitness.”

He told the inquest that players Mr Morgan sidelined would send text messages between them “to get them through”.

He said: “They refer to Jonathan Morgan as a prison warden and on parole during their time in prison.

“All those players then left because they could. Madeleine had the (marketing) job.

“He was literally alone. I thought he felt lonely and isolated from it. By this time, he had no confidence in anything.”

The team’s former physiotherapist, Francesca Carr, agreed on Wednesday that it was in Ms Cusack’s “best interests” not to keep her in the starting line-up for Mr Morgan’s first competitive game at the club due to her ankle injury.

Ms Cusack said her daughter’s relationship with Grace Rigler, who also played for United, was a “non-issue” and they welcomed her into their family.

The team’s former captain, Sophie Barker, told the inquest on Wednesday that she thought the main reason for Ms Cusack’s decline in mental health was that Ms Rigler had moved away to another football club.

Ms Cusack said she did not think this was true.

He said: “They were still very happy. Yes, it was not ideal. In football, it is something that is not unusual.

“I didn’t see that there was going to be a problem sustaining that relationship in the future and I didn’t get that feeling from Madeline.”

She told the inquest that her daughter would have been “absolutely humiliated beyond belief” when Mr Morgan called Ms Rigler “Mrs Cusack” in front of their team-mates, as she wanted to keep her relationship a secret.

Mrs Cusack said the club’s doctor, Dr Subhashis Bose, called her husband after their daughter died to ask if he would like to donate Mrs Cusack’s brain for research, which he declined.

Dr Basu told the inquest on Thursday that Ms Cusack’s medical records from her stay at United had been lost.

Asked by assistant coroner Sophie Cartwright Casey why she had not brought the matter up with the coroner’s inquest, Dr Basu said: “If that question had been put to me directly, I would have.”

Dean Armstrong KC, representing Ms Cusack’s family, asked Dr Basu why he had not approached United’s data protection officer about the data loss.

He said: “My approach was to contact the medical records company first to resolve the issue. I believe I raised it.”

He later added: “I was slow to report it. I finally brought it up.”

The investigation continues.