Inquest into Maddy Cusack’s death adjourned again after new documents lodged

An inquest into the death of the Sheffield United midfielder Maddy Cusack has been adjourned again, nearly three years after she died on 20 September 2023, aged 27. The coroner told the court the inquest would restart on 7 December and apologised to the family. She expects three days of evidence will be needed.

The hearing, which began on 29 June and has heard eight full days of evidence, had been scheduled to conclude listening to evidence on Friday before the coroner would return to Chesterfield coroner’s court to deliver her conclusions on 27 July, but on Thursday it was confirmed the proceedings had been delayed. It is understood this relates to additional documents having been lodged.

The coroner told the court there was a need to call recall Dr Basu – the former club doctor – and Francesca Carr – the former club physio – to give further evidence, in light of the additional disclosure received.

The coroner also asked Basu’s lawyer whether they could provide contact details for Sheffield United’s former assistant physio Sean Bowskill because the court may wish to ask him to give evidence.

It is the second time in 2026 that the inquest has been adjourned. It was previously scheduled to start on 5 January, but on that date the case was pushed back to 29 June after the family received 699 pages of new evidence from Sheffield United 10 days before Christmas, which the family’s lawyers described at the time as “totally unacceptable”.

In January United’s lawyers said the club “rejects wholeheartedly any suggestion of non-compliance” and the coroner agreed that the club had complied chronologically. The case had been delayed multiple times in 2025, partly amid legal debate around the scope of the inquest.

Since 29 June, the court has heard evidence that Cusack was regarded as “Miss Sheffield United”, the “poster girl” of the club’s women’s team, and she has been described as a “bubbly, lovely person”. Evidence has been heard from her parents, four former teammates, her GP and the club’s doctor, as well as several other club staff.

The club’s head of HR, Vicki Anderson, had been scheduled to give evidence on Thursday, along with the Football Association’s head of integrity, David Matthews. The FA launched an investigation after Cusack’s death, the findings of which have not been made public but have been made available to the coroner.

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