Maddy Cusack Inquest Reveals Coach's ‘Mind Games’ Impact

The emotional strain surrounding Maddy Cusack’s final months came sharply into focus at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court, where the former Sheffield United midfielder’s coach was accused of playing “mind games” and making comments that left her anxious, uncomfortable and increasingly isolated.

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.

On Tuesday, the inquest heard detailed testimony from her partner and former team-mate, Grace Riglar, who painted a picture of a player struggling under the weight of her relationship with then Sheffield United women’s manager Jonathan Morgan, and of a dressing room dynamic that gnawed away at her confidence.

‘Psycho’ from the touchline

Riglar told the court that Cusack had been “anxious” from the moment Morgan was appointed at Bramall Lane, 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 earlier period that had stayed with Cusack. During a match when Morgan was in charge, Cusack made a play on the pitch and, from the sideline, heard her manager shout: “psycho.”

The word stuck.

“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 inquest.

From automatic starter to the bench

On the field, the shift in Cusack’s role under Morgan cut deeply. She had been a mainstay, a guaranteed name on the teamsheet. That changed.

“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.

“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.”

For a player whose identity and status were tied so closely to her role in the side, that fluctuation hit hard. The inquest heard that Cusack believed the selections were not just tactical decisions, but something aimed at her personally.

Relationship under the spotlight

The scrutiny did not stop at football. It followed her into her private life.

Riglar, who was in a relationship with Cusack while they both played for Sheffield United, told the court that Morgan had addressed the issue of internal relationships as soon as he arrived.

When he joined the club, she said, he told players in the first meeting that anyone in a relationship within the team had to inform him.

Riglar said that Cusack was uncomfortable with how that played out in practice. In front of other players, Morgan would sometimes refer to Riglar as “Mrs Cusack.”

“We wanted to keep our relationship very professional. The football side and relationship side were very separate,” she said. Instead, the nickname blurred those lines and left Cusack uneasy in a space that was supposed to be her escape.

Weight comments and drastic changes

The inquest also heard that Morgan commented on Cusack’s weight, prompting a marked and worrying change in her habits.

Riglar told the court that after those remarks, Cusack altered her eating and exercise routines. She cut out carbohydrates, skipped breakfast, and added extra runs after training to an already demanding schedule.

“She was one of the fittest players on the team anyway,” Riglar said, underlining how unnecessary those changes appeared from the outside, and how much pressure Cusack must have felt to push herself further.

Growing paranoia and isolation

As the new season began, Riglar said, Cusack’s mindset deteriorated. What had once been a driven, resilient character became clouded by suspicion and fear of who she could trust.

“She told the coroner that Cusack had become ‘paranoid’ at the start of the new season,” the court heard.

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

That sense of having no safe outlet, no confidant within the club structure, added another layer to the psychological strain already building around her form, her role, and her personal life.

Looking for a way out

Away from the pitch, Cusack was searching for escape routes. The inquest heard she had obtained a sick note from a doctor, allowing her time off both from her part-time playing commitments and her full-time marketing role at Sheffield United.

She was not just thinking about leaving the club. She was contemplating a different life altogether.

Cusack had told Riglar she wanted to move to Dubai and become a flight attendant. In the days before her death, she had been looking for new jobs online, exploring a future far removed from the pressures and politics of the women’s game.

Those plans, and the testimony laid bare in court, now sit at the heart of an inquest trying to untangle how a much-loved player, described as one of the fittest in the squad and a key figure in the team, reached a point where football no longer felt like home.