Cusack's coach told FA she was 'generally a liar', inquest hears

Sheffield United midfielder Maddy Cusack passed away on September 20 2023; warning: contains content of a distressing nature. If you are affected by this story, please visit sky.com/viewersupport

>The coach of former Sheffield United player Maddy Cusack called her a liar in an account to the Football Association after her death, an inquest has heard.

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

>Ms Cusack's family sent a written complaint to United after her death, outlining issues allegedly stemming from her relationship with Mr Morgan, with whom she had also worked at Leicester City years earlier.

>On Monday, Mr Morgan was asked by Dean Armstrong KC, representing Ms Cusack's family, about a comment he made calling her "generally a liar" in an account to the FA, which was investigating the circumstances around Ms Cusack's death.

>Mr Morgan said: "In terms of the scenarios since Maddy passed away, I genuinely feel things have not been portrayed factually or correctly with how she was feeling.

>"There's definitely evidence (that) Maddy omitted information from her family about my support to her."

>He added: "With the lying comment, it was based on the back of things after Maddy passed away. It became evident she omitted things to her family and others that I had supported her with."

>He told assistant coroner Sophie Cartwright KC there had been "a lot of one-sided information".

>The inquest heard that Ms Cusack did not play during Mr Morgan's first match at United after he joined the club in February 2023, despite playing for the full 90 minutes the week before.

>Mr Morgan denied he was trying to "cut her down to size" by not letting her play, adding that she was recovering from an injury she sustained before he came to the club.

>Ms Cusack's mother, Deborah Cusack, previously told the inquest that her daughter would have been "absolutely humiliated beyond belief" when Mr Morgan called her girlfriend and team-mate Grace Riglar "Mrs Cusack" in front of other players.

>Mr Morgan told the inquest that "never happened", adding that he had said: "Here come the girlfriends".

>He said it was a "tongue-in-cheek comment", which was "meant to be taken as a bit of banter", and that they had then made a joke about his weight.

>Ms Riglar previously told the coroner that Mr Morgan asked players who were in a relationship within the team to tell him about it.

>Asked about this, Mr Morgan said: "In the past, relationships have had issues within the environment. People would break up, it would cause scenarios that sort of divided the team's opinion and make things a bit uncomfortable."

>He said Ms Cusack and Ms Riglar told him about their relationship, adding: "It was a five-minute conversation, I said 'that's fine' and we moved on."

>Mr Morgan said that when he called Ms Cusack "bottom heavy", he was referring to her legs being "too muscular", which would burn her energy when sprinting.

>Mr Morgan said that on another occasion he told Ms Cusack she looked "much fitter", but she interpreted that as him calling her "fat".

>The coach added: "Which obviously is not true."

>The inquest has heard that Ms Cusack changed her eating and exercise habits, including by skipping breakfast and going for extra runs after training.

>Mr Morgan said there was "nothing out of the ordinary" when he saw Ms Cusack for the first time after he joined United, but there was a "level of anxiety".

>He told the inquest: "She gave me a hug, said 'How are you? Congratulations'. We spoke about looking forward to meeting the girls later that day."

>Mr Morgan said that during his first few months at the club, he saw Ms Cusack "joking and laughing" and "having banter", adding: "I wouldn't say I saw anything different from the day I started from my point of view."

>Mr Morgan was asked about a call he had with Ms Cusack, when she said she was having some time off football and had been prescribed medication.

>He said: "I told her 'take all the time you need, there's always a place for you on my team this season'."