Remembering Maddy Cusack: Family's Tribute and Ongoing Inquest

The bench sits in a quiet corner of Scargill Park in West Hallam, Derbyshire. Flowers, scarves, and handwritten notes gather around the plaque. This is where they come to find her.

For Olivia Cusack, it is where she sits with the memory of the big sister she “looked up to my whole life”. For cousin Emily Reilly, it is where she thinks of the girl who “used to get us in trouble with my dad”.

Three years on from the death of former Sheffield United midfielder Maddy Cusack, the grief is no less sharp. The questions, though, still hang in the air.

A family still waiting

Maddy was 27 when she was found unconscious at her home in Derbyshire on 20 September 2023. The inquest into her death finally began in June this year and was expected to conclude in July.

Instead, it has stalled.

The hearing was adjourned after just under two weeks in July and has now been paused for months while Sheffield United searches for documents linked to her medical records. The delay means her family will not hear more evidence until at least December.

Olivia calls the wait “extremely overwhelming”.

“It is very emotional and you can find yourself frustrated at times,” she says. “They're very difficult days.”

The inquest had already been delayed twice before the coroner halted proceedings again. In the evidence that was heard, including testimony from Maddy’s mother, the court was told she had struggled with her mental health before her death and had experienced problems with Sheffield United coach Jonathan Morgan.

Morgan told the inquest he had “no concerns” about their relationship and insisted “things have not been portrayed factually or correctly with how she was feeling”.

As lawyers examined emails, interactions and timelines, Olivia felt something vital slipping through the cracks.

‘More than the colours she wore’

While Maddy’s relationships and wellbeing were dissected, Olivia says the person behind the player was barely touched.

“It dawned on me that when people were asked questions about Maddy and to share what she was like as a person, they were all very similar answers and quite focused on the football side of her,” she says.

“People don't seem to know her like we did – of course they don't. But I wanted to introduce a different side of Maddy.

“I wanted them to know more than the number on the back of her shirt or the colours that she wore on the football pitch.”

Away from the scrutiny of the courtroom, that other side is vivid.

In West Hallam, where they all grew up, Olivia and Emily come back to Maddy’s memorial bench often. It has become their meeting point with the past. Their birthdays fall at the end of October; they used to plan them together.

“Now I just come here,” Emily says quietly.

Then she smiles at the memory.

“She used to get us in trouble with my dad when we were younger. It was always her idea then I'd take the blame for it.”

Those small, mischievous details are what the family fear are being lost in an inquest dominated by darker chapters.

Carrying her story forward

Olivia has refused to let her sister’s story end in a courtroom file. Along with other family members, she has thrown herself into campaigning since Maddy’s death, setting up a foundation in her name to support aspiring female footballers.

“The foundation keeps me going,” she says. “It's been a real lifeline to be able to continue her story.”

On Saturday, that determination took physical form. Olivia organised a walk from Bramall Lane, Sheffield United’s ground, to near Derby, where Maddy lived – almost 30 miles on foot.

“The aim with the walk is just to do her proud,” she says. “Maddy would love that we were all challenging ourselves.”

The club itself ordered an external report shortly after Maddy’s death. That investigation cleared Sheffield United of wrongdoing. A separate report, commissioned by the Football Association in early 2024, will not be published until the inquest finally concludes.

So the legal process drags on, inching towards December. The family can do little but wait.

They refuse, though, to let waiting turn into silence.

“She will only ever remain a part of this life if we keep saying her name and keep remembering her,” Olivia says.

“And as painful as that can be on days where you want to forget and you just want to stay in bed all day and not face the world, I try and make a conscious effort to keep saying her name and keep her living alongside us ultimately.”

On a bench in a Derbyshire park, that effort continues. Not as a statistic, not as a case number, not as just a shirt. As Maddy.