Maddy Cusack’s father tells inquest she was dismayed at Sheffield United manager’s return

Sheffield United’s Maddy Cusack was ‘dismayed’ that her previous coach, Jonathan Morgan, was joining her current club, her father has told an inquest. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA View image in fullscreen Sheffield United’s Maddy Cusack was ‘dismayed’ that her previous coach, Jonathan Morgan, was joining her current club, her father has told an inquest. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA Maddy Cusack’s father tells inquest she was dismayed at Sheffield United manager’s return Jonathan Morgan claims he provided player welfare Doctor says Maddy feared mental health stigma The most significant cause of the deterioration of the late Sheffield United footballer Maddy Cusack’s mental health was the behaviour of Jonathan Morgan, the team’s manager at the time, her father, David Cusack, has told an inquest. During a tense exchange with David Cusack, Morgan, who is representing himself at the inquest, accused the player’s father of relying on hearsay to form his opinion of him. The former England Under-19s international was found dead at her family home in Derbyshire on 20 September 2023, at the age of 27. David Cusack told Chesterfield coroner’s court his daughter had told him she was “dismayed by the possibility of him coming back into her life” when she learned that Morgan was set to be appointed by Sheffield United in February 2023. She had played under Morgan at Leicester for a brief spell in 2018. David Cusack told the court Morgan was the “principal reason” why she had decided to leave Leicester City during the 2018-19 season, when she moved to Sheffield United during the winter transfer window, saying: “She’d never come across a character like him before. The way he dealt with people, his man-management, when you’re in, you’re in, when you’re out, you’re out.” He claimed Morgan’s managerial style was “my way or the highway”. Asked what he thought was the single or most significant cause of the deterioration in his daughter’s mental health, David Cusack replied: “It was Mr Morgan’s behaviour towards her, as simple as that.” He added that “other narratives being pushed around” were a “smokescreen” and he wanted Morgan to be “held responsible”, before claiming the club had “backed the wrong horse” by not immediately suspending Morgan. Morgan, who was at Burnley between his spells at Leicester and Sheffield United, is scheduled to give evidence to the court in the week commencing next Monday. On Tuesday, the inquest will hear from Cusack’s partner and her mother, before staff at Sheffield United begin to be questioned. The club’s own investigation, which concluded in December 2023, found no evidence of wrongdoing. Morgan, who was sacked by Sheffield United in February 2024, asked David Cusack more than 60 questions. Morgan disputed the father’s description of Maddy Cusack having not played in Morgan’s first three games in charge, after a period when she had been a regular starter. Morgan said the reason she had not started was that she had been dealing with an in