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Sheffield 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.

Carr said players “probably wouldn’t have known where to go” for any help from the club’s HR team after a switch in their training venue, and she told the court that there were members of the squad whose mental wellbeing was causing her even more concern than Cusack’s, prior to her death.

The hearing had been scheduled to hear evidence from the Sheffield United chief executive, Stephen Bettis, on Wednesday but his session was rescheduled for 8 July after it took the court longer than anticipated to examine Carr’s extensive evidence. Further staff members, past and present, from the club are scheduled to give evidence at the remainder of the inquest.

Asked if it was fair to say there were “insufficient resources to properly run the club and look after the players” while the club was transitioning to full-time status, Carr replied: “In my personal opinion, yes. We didn’t have the luxury of having all the roles in place when the season started.”

Carr also said Cusack was “on her radar” during the summer after the midfielder had expressed worries to her about her house and about her girlfriend being “far away”. Carr also said she had seen “a sign” when Cusack called her “heartbroken that she had gone to the wrong training ground” by mistake one day, saying: “Her reaction was excessive. It wasn’t a normal reaction.” Carr said she subsequently mentioned her concerns about Cusack’s wellbeing to her manager, Jonathan Morgan.

The first two days of the inquest had heard evidence from Cusack’s father, David, and her girlfriend, the former Sheffield United player Grace Riglar, both of whom had stated that Cusack had felt she had been unfairly left out of the starting team for Morgan’s first match in charge in February 2023, but Carr confirmed several times on Wednesday that she had given advice, as the physio, to Morgan that Cusack was not fit to play in his first match in charge, concurring with Morgan’s version of events.

Morgan, the former Leicester and Burnley manager, was announced as Sheffield United’s manager on 14 February 2023 and took charge of the club for the first time against Crystal Palace on 26 February 2023. He is scheduled to give evidence to the inquest on Monday.

The Cusack family have blamed Morgan for the deterioration in Cusack’s mental health but Carr said she “never saw an issue” in Morgan’s behaviour. She said of Morgan: “We had some very tough times during the transition from part-time to full-time. Mr Morgan pushed hard and made sure the girls were being fed when the club weren’t providing food.”

Carr also said she had written to senior members of staff at the club multiple times to express her concerns that the team were not meeting the minimum league requirements for standards – for example, by not having their own private physio room for treatment. She added: “Things should have been in place beforehand and they weren’t. Lots of things didn’t feel like they were quite completed [ready for the 2023-24 season].” She said she could not recall all the specifics but added: “I remember thinking, ‘we don’t have a private medical room, that’s one of the requirements’.”

Carr was asked about a statement she had submitted as evidence prior to the inquest which referenced “players under the most pressure, who I thought might harm themself” and she said: “Maddy would not have been near the top of the list, for me. There were players who I was more concerned about from a mental health or a coping point of view.”

The court also heard evidence from Cusack’s former captain at United, Sophie Barker, who most recently played for Portsmouth. Barker, who was also Cusack’s former roommate, said she believed Cusack’s deterioration had been linked to worries about being able to afford her house and specifically about her girlfriend Riglar moving to play for Lewes.

Barker said of Cusack: “She loved Grace to bits. She felt Grace was leaving her. I had to reassure her quite a lot, that Grace was just moving [clubs], it didn’t mean they were breaking up or anything like that. She was [also] really worried about affording her house. She was saying ‘if I leave football, I’m not going to be able to afford it’. We spoke about solutions to that.”

When questioned by Morgan, who is representing himself during the hearing, Barker was asked if she had ever seen him produce any negative behaviours towards Cusack. Barker said no and added: “I can’t recall a time where I’d seen you shouting, I thought it was just a regular managerial thing.”

The inquest continues on Thursday.