Inquest hears claims about support, data breach, and safeguarding around Maddy Cusack’s death

Concerns raised about Jonathan Morgan prior to Maddy Cusack’s death, inquest told

Former Sheffield United player Nina Wilson ‘tried to escalate concerns’Morgan to give evidence to inquest on MondayThe former Sheffield United goalkeeper Nina Wilson has told an inquest that she had “tried to escalate concerns” about the manager Jonathan Morgan prior to her teammate Maddy Cusack’s death in 2023, but she did not feel she was listened to. Wilson, who told the hearing that she had ended her own football career when she was aged 25 because of those experiences, said that neither she nor Cusack had known who the club’s safeguarding officer was, and she listed a series of recommendations to the court, including calling for whistleblowing routes to be clearer to players and for mental health education to be a mandatory part of coaching qualification courses. However, later in Friday’s hearing, another former Sheffield United player and Morgan’s former assistant coach Luke Turner told the court that they had never witnessed Morgan bullying Cusack or any other players personally. The former Leicester City, Burnley and Sheffield United manager Morgan, who will give evidence to the inquest on Monday, asked his former player Naomi Hartley if she had seen any bullying towards Cusack, and Hartley replied: “No, I just think a lot of people were intimidated by you.” Chesterfield coroner’s court also heard evidence of how under-resourced staff felt at the second-tier club during the summer of 2023 as they transitioned from part-time to full-time status. The club’s women’s team doctor at the time, Dr Subhashis Basu, said they had been so stretched that at one stage Basu had to organise the booking of a pitch for training, collect “lunch for the players from Tesco” and even “store medication” in his house, having also referenced a frequent lack of access to private medical rooms for the women’s squad.Dr Basu added: “It was an extremely challenging environment. We were routinely moving training facilities, struggling to find venues.” Wilson, who played for an extensive list of clubs including Brighton and London City Lionesses, told the court the death of her friend Cusack, aged 27 on 20 September 2023, was “definitely preventable”. She labelled Cusack as “an exceptionally confident person, she was so funny, always bouncing around the changing room, checking in on other people”, but said she had noticed a “very stark change” in her demeanour from February 2023, when Morgan was appointed.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

3 hours ago

Maddy Cusack was fearful of reporting her concerns, mother tells inquest

Sheffield Utd player ‘felt she couldn’t speak’ to hierarchy Coroner told of serious loss of club’s medical dataThe mother of Maddy Cusack told an inquest it is too difficult for women footballers to report grievances, for fear of being blacklisted, and said her daughter would still be alive if “her nemesis” Jonathan Morgan had not been appointed as Sheffield United’s manager.Deborah Cusack said Morgan, who is scheduled to give evidence at Cusack’s inquest on Monday, made her daughter “feel as if she had to give up football”, prior to her being found dead at the family’s home in Derbyshire on 20 September 2023. Thursday’s hearing also heard there had been an “industrial-scale” loss of players’ sensitive medical data involving the records-keeping system used for women’s footballers at multiple clubs, including missing records for Cusack. The club’s doctor at the time, Subhashis Basu, admitted that he had failed to adequately report the data breach.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

1 day ago

Former physio tells Maddy Cusack inquest Sheffield United were struggling to support women’s team

Francesca Carr says move to full-time status felt ‘rushed’Cusack was found dead at her home in September 2023Sheffield United did not have sufficient resources in place during the summer of 2023 to look after their women’s team players, their former physio has told an inquest into the death of Maddy Cusack.Cusack was found dead at her family’s home in Derbyshire on 20 September 2023, at the age of 27, just weeks into United’s first season since switching to training on a full-time basis. Francesca Carr, who worked as the women’s team physio between 2021 and 2024, told the court that the club’s transition from part-time to full-time status felt “rushed” and staff were carrying out multiple roles beyond their remit, such as making lunch for the team.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

2 days ago