Maddy Cusack's Struggles at Sheffield United: Mind Games and Pressure

Former Sheffield United midfielder Maddy Cusack was subjected to “mind games”, comments about her weight and jibes about her relationship by her coach in the period 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. On Tuesday, Chesterfield Coroner’s Court heard stark evidence about the pressure she felt under at Sheffield United Women following the arrival of manager Jonathan Morgan.

‘He called her a psycho from the sideline’

Giving evidence, Cusack’s partner and former team-mate, Grace Riglar, described how the midfielder had been deeply uneasy about Morgan’s appointment, based on a previous spell working with him at Leicester City.

“I think it was stuff she told me about her previous experience prior to Jonathan coming to Sheffield,” Riglar told the inquest. She recalled Cusack describing a match under Morgan at Leicester: “She had done something on the pitch and Jonathan called her a psycho from the sideline.”

Cusack did not show that those words had cut her, Riglar said, but they had.

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

From automatic starter to the bench

On the pitch, the shift in Cusack’s status under Morgan hit hard. A mainstay of the side, 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,” Riglar said. “When Jonathan came, she was in and out from the starting team a bit.

“Her going from starting, to being on the bench quite a lot... she saw that as a setback. That impacted her a lot.”

The pattern of selection, Riglar explained, felt to Cusack like something more pointed than simple rotation.

“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 the spotlight

The inquest also heard that Morgan addressed players’ personal lives from his first meeting at the club. Riglar said he told the squad that anyone in a relationship within the team had to inform him.

Cusack and Riglar, who were together but keen to maintain a clear professional boundary, found themselves pulled into the spotlight.

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

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

Weight comments and drastic changes

Riglar went on to describe how Morgan’s comments extended to Cusack’s body. The court heard that he made a remark about her weight, prompting a drastic shift in the player’s behaviour around food and training.

Cusack began cutting out carbohydrates, skipping breakfast and adding extra runs after team sessions, Riglar said.

“She was one of the fittest players on the team anyway,” she told the coroner, underlining how unnecessary those changes appeared to those around her.

Growing paranoia and isolation

By the start of the new season, Riglar said, the toll on Cusack’s mental state had become clear.

“She told the coroner that Cusack had become ‘paranoid’,” the court heard. Cusack felt she had nowhere to turn inside the club.

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

Medical professionals had already stepped in. The inquest was told Cusack held a sick note from a doctor, granting her time off from both her part-time playing commitments and her full-time marketing role at Sheffield United.

Looking for a way out

Away from the training ground, Cusack was making plans that hinted at a desire for a fresh start. The court heard she had told Riglar she wanted to move to Dubai and become a flight attendant, and had been searching online for new jobs in the days before her death.

Those details, laid bare in a Derbyshire courtroom, painted a picture of a popular, driven footballer who felt cornered in the environment she loved most – and who had already started to imagine a life far from the pitch that once defined her.