Maddy Cusack's Struggles Under Coach Jonathan Morgan Before Her Death

The pressure on Maddy Cusack did not just come from the pitch. According to evidence heard at an inquest, it came from the touchline too.

At Chesterfield Coroner's Court, former team-mate and partner Grace Riglar described how the Sheffield United midfielder felt targeted and unsettled under women's team manager Jonathan Morgan in the months before her death.

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

‘Psycho’ from the touchline

Riglar told the court that Cusack had been "anxious" about Morgan’s arrival at Sheffield United because of a previous spell working under him at Leicester City.

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

She recalled an incident from that period that stayed with Cusack. "I think she said that they played a game against a team while Jonathan was the manager. She had done something on the pitch and Jonathan called her a psycho from the sideline."

Cusack did not broadcast how deeply that stung, Riglar said, but it lingered. "I don't think she let anyone know those types of comments affected her, but they did and they made her uncomfortable."

From ever-present to in and out

On the field, Cusack had been used to being central, a regular starter and a key figure in the dressing room. That status shifted when Morgan took charge at Sheffield United.

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

That change cut deep.

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

"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 scrutiny, Riglar suggested, extended beyond team selection.

She and Cusack were in a relationship while playing together at Sheffield United. Riglar told the court that when Morgan joined the club, he made it clear in the first meeting that any players in relationships within the squad had to inform him.

That set the tone.

Riglar said Cusack felt uncomfortable when Morgan referred to her as "Mrs Cusack" in front of other players.

"We wanted to keep our relationship very professional. The football side and relationship side were very separate," Riglar said. That line, she implied, was blurred from above, not by them.

Weight comments and shifting habits

The inquest also heard that Morgan made a comment about Cusack’s weight. According to Riglar, that remark triggered a sharp change in the midfielder’s behaviour away from the training ground.

Cusack altered her diet and exercise regime. She cut out carbohydrates, skipped breakfast and went for extra runs after training sessions.

This was not a player trying to catch up with the rest of the squad, Riglar stressed. "She was one of the fittest players on the team anyway."

Yet the drive to do more, to be leaner, to be better, intensified.

Growing isolation and a search for escape

By the start of the new season, Riglar said, Cusack had become "paranoid". The dressing room, once a sanctuary, no longer felt safe.

"She didn't really have anyone she could speak to without it getting back to Jonathan," Riglar told the court.

Away from football, Cusack was juggling two roles: part-time as a player and full-time in a marketing job at Sheffield United. The inquest heard that she had obtained a sick note from a doctor to take time off from both.

There were also signs she was looking for a way out of that environment altogether.

Cusack had told Riglar that she wanted to move to Dubai and become a flight attendant. She had been searching online for new jobs, exploring a different life far from the English game she had grown up in.

Those plans never had the chance to unfold.