FA’s Cusack report found others felt ‘unable to raise concerns’

Numerous players “did not feel supported and felt unable to raise concerns” at the club, according to a report from the Football Association looking into the circumstances surrounding the death of former Sheffield United player Maddy Cusack.

The report was put together by the FA in early 2024, shortly after the midfielder’s passing in September 2023, at the age of 27.

The report that had been shared with the family and others was “provisional,” according to a hearing on Tuesday at Chesterfield Coroners’ Court, and would not be finalized until the inquest was concluded.

However, Dean Armstrong KC, who represents the Cusack family, quoted excerpts from it, including the claim that “most]players] particularly did not feel supported and unable to lodge complaints against their manager and others.

He also read the report’s section, which stated that “the investigation has highlighted the resourcing issues that are particularly prevalent in the women’s game and the potential welfare and safeguarding issues that may arise.”

Cusack, who was born in Nottingham and spent time at Birmingham and Leicester City before making 100 appearances for Sheffield United, started her career at Aston Villa.

Ex-Blades’ manager Jonathan Morgan, who was on video, accused Cusack’s family of “manipulating information” and creating a “narrative” in the 18 months since her death.

There was “no one who could dispute the credibility of those individuals,” he claimed, and the family’s witnesses were “very one-sided.”

Following submissions regarding the scope of the inquest and witnesses, coroner Sophie Cartwright will issue a written judgment.

In the years leading up to the footballer’s death, the Cusack family’s attorneys claimed there was a “climate of concern and fear” at Sheffield United.

One witness claimed Morgan once called a player “cancerous.”

They have requested that a jury be present for her inquest.

A jury’s investigation of the “position of young vulnerable people, obviously in this case particularly and predominantly females, who are susceptible and the degree to which they are susceptible to the influence that those in senior positions hold over them in professional or significant sporting contexts” was referred to as “clear public interest” by Mr. Armstrong KC.

In terms of resources and also in terms of how people are treated, he continued, “There was then and there is still a significant difference between the men’s game and the women’s game.”

There is a significant public interest in examining how women play their roles in the community and what support services are provided to vulnerable women like Maddy.