The coach of former Sheffield United player Maddy Cusack labelled her a ‘psycho’ and engaged in psychological tactics before her death, the inquest heard.
Cusack, aged 27, was discovered unconscious by her father David at the family residence in Horsley, Derbyshire, on 20 September 2023 and was pronounced dead later that day.
During Tuesday’s hearing at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court, it was revealed that Jonathan Morgan had made remarks concerning Cusack’s weight and personal relationship while serving as manager of Sheffield United’s women’s team.
Grace Riglar, a teammate and Cusack’s partner, said that Cusack felt anxious about Morgan’s arrival at the club, given her prior experience working with him at Leicester City.
At the inquest, she said: “I think she shared with me details of her earlier encounters before Jonathan joined Sheffield.
“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.
“I don’t think she let anyone know those types of comments affected her, but they did and they made her uncomfortable.”
She told the inquest Morgan joining United was a big cause of Cusack’s stress.
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Riglar added Cusack thought the coach had made a “personal attack” on her by not putting her in the starting line-up for matches.
She said: “She was used to starting every game, she was an important member of the team. 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.
“She just felt those little things were intentional.”
