The most significant cause of the deterioration of the late Sheffield United footballer Maddy Cusack’s mental health was the behaviour of Jonathan Morgan, the team’s manager at the time, her father, David Cusack, has told an inquest.

During a tense exchange with David Cusack, Morgan, who is representing himself at the inquest, accused the player’s father of relying on hearsay to form his opinion of him.

The former England Under-19s international was found dead at her family home in Derbyshire on 20 September 2023, at the age of 27.

David Cusack told Chesterfield coroner’s court his daughter had told him she was “dismayed by the possibility of him coming back into her life” when she learned that Morgan was set to be appointed by Sheffield United in February 2023. She had played under Morgan at Leicester for a brief spell in 2018.

David Cusack told the court Morgan was the “principal reason” why she had decided to leave Leicester City during the 2018-19 season, when she moved to Sheffield United during the winter transfer window, saying: “She’d never come across a character like him before. The way he dealt with people, his man-management, when you’re in, you’re in, when you’re out, you’re out.” He claimed Morgan’s managerial style was “my way or the highway”.

Asked what he thought was the single or most significant cause of the deterioration in his daughter’s mental health, David Cusack replied: “It was Mr Morgan’s behaviour towards her, as simple as that.” He added that “other narratives being pushed around” were a “smokescreen” and he wanted Morgan to be “held responsible”, before claiming the club had “backed the wrong horse” by not immediately suspending Morgan.

Morgan, who was at Burnley between his spells at Leicester and Sheffield United, is scheduled to give evidence to the court in the week commencing next Monday. On Tuesday, the inquest will hear from Cusack’s partner and her mother, before staff at Sheffield United begin to be questioned. The club’s own investigation, which concluded in December 2023, found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Morgan, who was sacked by Sheffield United in February 2024, asked David Cusack more than 60 questions. Morgan disputed the father’s description of Maddy Cusack having not played in Morgan’s first three games in charge, after a period when she had been a regular starter. Morgan said the reason she had not started was that she had been dealing with an injury.

Morgan drew shocked expressions from many of the player’s family and friends present in the courtroom when he asked David Cusack: “The statistics showed there were more wins without Maddy in the team, than with her in it – what would you have done?” To which her father replied: “I’m not a football coach, I’ve no idea. I’ve never interfered [with any coach’s team selections]. You and I have hardly spoken.”

Morgan then interjected: “If we’ve hardly spoken, how would you have a fair assessment of me?” and David Cusack replied firmly: “She told me what she told me,” before adding a “huge number of people” had submitted evidence about Morgan to an FA investigation, which has not been made public.

Cusack, the first player to reach 100 appearances for Sheffield United’s women, worked in the club’s marketing department as well as playing fulltime after signing a professional contract in the summer of 2023. That contract gave her earnings of £18,000 a year from her football, up from just £6,000 during the previous season when playing part-time, excluding her marketing role salary. David Cusack said his daughter had been anxious about juggling both roles.

Morgan claimed he made Maddy Cusack’s lunches for her to try to ease her time-management pressures, and that he had given her greater leeway around what time she could turn up for training, something which David Cusack said his daughter had never mentioned to him.

The inquest also heard evidence from Dr Mobeen Bhatti, who had issued Maddy Cusack with a sicknote in September 2023 after a consultation. Dr Bhatti told the inquest that Cusack had asked for her mental health problems and anxiety not to be specifically mentioned in his diagnosis within the sick note that was to be provided to Sheffield United to exempt her from work, because she did not want to be “stigmatised”. The inquest continues on Tuesday and could take up to two weeks.