Maddy Cusack’s eating habits changed after manager’s comment, girlfriend tells inquest

Grace Riglar fights back tears giving evidence

Cusack called Sheffield United omission a ‘personal attack’

The girlfriend of the late Sheffield United player Maddy Cusack has told an inquest that Cusack’s former manager Jonathan Morgan called her a “psycho” and that her eating habits changed after he allegedly made a comment referencing her weight.

Grace Riglar, who played for Sheffield United for one season alongside Cusack, fought back tears multiple times during an emotional and lengthy evidence session at Chesterfield coroner’s court on Tuesday. At one stage she had to take a break while being cross-examined by lawyers representing Sheffield United.

Riglar, who described Cusack as a “very caring soul who always wanted the best for people”, said that after Morgan arrived at Sheffield United in February 2023, he summoned any players who were in relationships to a meeting. When Riglar and Cusack subsequently met with Morgan – a meeting Riglar told the inquest made Cusack “uncomfortable” – he issued rules for player-relationships, including that “if he was to be annoyed with any one of us, the other can’t hold a grudge against him”.

Morgan, who is scheduled to give evidence to the hearing on Monday, is representing himself at the inquest and personally questioned Riglar. During that questioning they disagreed on whether or not Cusack had an injury that Morgan claimed would have ruled her out of playing in his first match in charge. Riglar said Cusack felt it was a “personal attack” from Morgan to not start her.

Cusack was found dead at her family’s home in Derbyshire on 20 September 2023, at the age of 27. Riglar described noticing that Cusack was “fidgety, very erratic and scrolling on Indeed looking at jobs” during a trip they took together to Matlock earlier in the month, but Riglar said she was unsure whether she was aware at that time that Cusack had recently been prescribed medication for her anxiety.

The 25-year-old centre-back, who plays for Norwich City and won their player-of-the-year award last season while helping them win promotion to the third tier, spent one season at Sheffield United in 2022-23. Riglar said she “wouldn’t have known where to go to if I had any problems” during her time in Sheffield, compared with her good experiences in regards to that at other clubs. The club’s legal team later put questions to Riglar and claimed she should have been aware of who the safeguarding officer was. The player said she had no recollection of that.

The court heard that Riglar was not offered a new contract at Sheffield United at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, whereas Cusack was given a full-time one. Riglar therefore moved to play for Lewes in the summer of 2023. Asked if she thought her having to move away from Sheffield affected Cusack, Riglar replied: “I don’t think it was ideal but it’s part of football”, before beginning to cry when asked if she thought Cusack had been “lonely”, to which she said she did not think so.

Riglar said Cusack had expressed to her that she was “anxious about him coming”, in reference to learning Morgan was likely becoming Sheffield United’s manager, with Riglar adding that there had been a “really good environment” under the previous manager Neil Redfearn, the former Barnsley midfielder and ex-Leeds United men’s team manager. Redfearn resigned from his role in November 2022 after two years in charge.

Riglar said Cusack felt uncomfortable when Morgan was managing at a previous club earlier in Cusack’s career and he had “called her psycho from the sideline” during a match, adding: “She was a tough character so I don’t think she’d ever let anyone know those kinds of comments would affect her, but they did make her uncomfortable.”

Riglar also said she was told by Cusack that Morgan had referenced her weight, saying: “After one session she said Mr Morgan had made some kind of comment about her fitness or her weight or something, I can’t fully remember [but] after that her eating habits changed a bit, [she made] slight tweaks in her habits that probably weren’t the healthiest.”

Morgan later questioned Riglar as to whether or not she could be certain of those comments as she had not heard them first-hand, asking: “So, just to confirm, you don’t [personally] recall me calling Maddy ‘fat’?”, to which Riglar replied: “No.”

Asked what factors she believed contributed to Cusack’s death, Riglar said Morgan joining Sheffield United was a “big part”, adding: “You can’t blame one person but I do think that was a big reason.”

The court also heard evidence on Tuesday from Cusack’s line manager from her dual role at the club’s marketing department, Eoin Doyle. Cusack was earning a combined £38,000 per annum across the two roles for about 50 hours per week. Doyle described Cusack as a “good, trustworthy employee”. He recalled a conversation with Cusack in August 2023 where she appeared to have “sunken into herself” and that when she had asked for time off work in September 2023 he had said “take as much time as you need”. Doyle also said Morgan had “expressed concern” about Cusack’s demeanour in the weeks leading up to her death.

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