The former captain of Sheffield United Women has told an inquest that she believed Maddy Cusack’s mental health deteriorated largely because her girlfriend had moved away.
Chesterfield Coroner’s Court heard that Cusack’s family had submitted a written complaint concerning the team’s head coach, Jonathan Morgan, setting out concerns they said were linked to her relationship with him.
Cusack was found unresponsive by her father at her home in Horsley, Derbyshire, on September 20, 2023, and died later that day.
Giving evidence, Ms Barker said: “When Maddy found out Grace was going to go so far away, that affected Maddy. She was infatuated with Grace.”
Maddy Cusack’s former captain told the inquest she believed her girlfriend’s move contributed to her mental health struggles
Cusack’s girlfriend, Grace Riglar, left Sheffield United to join another football club
Ms Barker continued: “She felt Grace was leaving her — I had to reassure her that Grace was just moving… it didn’t mean they had split or anything like that.”
She added: “I remember saying to Maddy’s family, after everything that happened, that if Grace was still local Maddy would still be here.”
Riglar moved from Sheffield United to Lewes FC in Brighton in July 2023. Cusack died in September that same year.
Dean Armstrong KC, representing Ms Cusack’s family, suggested to Ms Barker that Mr Morgan’s behaviour and an absence of support from the club in adjusting to her full-time football role alongside her marketing job were the principal reasons for Ms Cusack’s decline in mental health.
Ms Barker said: ‘No, I believe Grace was the main reason.’
Ms Barker said Ms Cusack had told her she felt ‘anxious’ about Mr Morgan joining United in February 2023, because of her experience of working with him at Leicester City years earlier.
The former United captain said: ‘She explained to me her previous experiences – that he was unprofessional, that he sold her dreams that, when she went there, weren’t real and he chatted a lot of rubbish.’
Sophie Barker said Cusack had told her she felt ‘anxious’ about Jonathan Morgan’s arrival
The inquest heard that Ms Cusack was ‘willing to give Mr Morgan another chance’ and ‘get her head down’.
Ms Cusack then did not discuss any problems related to Mr Morgan with Ms Barker, the inquest heard.
Ms Barker told the court: ‘She had either hid it from me or didn’t tell me because she knew I would say something to Jonathan. Maddy really didn’t like confrontation… she knew I would have gone and confronted him about it.’
The inquest heard on Tuesday that Ms Cusack thought the coach was playing ‘mind games’ with her, and had made comments about her weight and relationship with Ms Riglar.
In June 2023, Ms Barker said her colleague became ‘quieter’ and ‘more reserved’, adding: ‘She turned up and went home.
‘She didn’t really contribute to much. It was a completely different person to the Maddy that was the season before, where she was very bubbly.’
Francesca Carr, who was then the head physiotherapist for United’s women’s team, told the inquest that she did not have concerns Ms Cusack would harm herself.
She told the coroner: ‘There were players I had more concerns about from a mental health or a coping point of view.’
But Ms Carr did recall Ms Cusack being ‘heartbroken’ on one occasion when she went to the wrong training ground.
The physio told the inquest: ‘I said, “We are at this one” and she just started crying on the phone.
Cusack and Riglar are pictured playing together for Sheffield United against Lewes in 2023
‘It just wasn’t a normal reaction for me. I just thought that reaction is excessive for what happened. I know that emotional reaction is a sign.’
The inquest previously heard that Ms Cusack thought Mr Morgan made a ‘personal attack’ on her by not putting her in the starting line-up for matches.
Mr Morgan, who is representing himself in the inquest, asked Ms Carr if the ‘collaborative decision’ not to put Ms Cusack in the starting line-up for his first competitive game at the club was in her ‘best interests’ because of an injury to her ankle.
Ms Carr replied: ‘I think her not playing then, yes, was in her best interests.’
She added: ‘Maddy, in my professional opinion, pushed too hard too early on to try and get back fit.’
Asked by Joseph O’Brien KC, who represents Sheffield United, whether she heard Ms Cusack complain about Mr Morgan in the summer of 2023, Ms Carr replied: ‘No I didn’t.’
The inquest continues.
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