A Norwich City star has described her late girlfriend's torment leading up to her death and how upset she was when their coach made comments about their relationship.
Grace Riglar, who was the Canaries' player of the season, has been giving evidence at an inquest for partner Maddy Cusack.
Ms Cusack was found unconscious at her home on September 20, 2023, and died that day.
The women dated when they were both playing for Sheffield United and their relationship has been a focus of the inquest, which is being held at Chesterfield Coroner's Court.
In her evidence, Ms Riglar - who scored 20 goals from defence for Norwich City last season, helping them to promotion - described how Ms Cusack became increasingly uncomfortable after Jonathan Morgan arrived at the club as head coach in February 2023.
Ms Riglar, who joined the Canaries from Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee in 2025, said Ms Cusack was “anxious” about Mr Morgan's arrival after her experience of working with him at Leicester City years earlier.
The City player told the inquest: “I think she said that they played a game against a team while Jonathan was the manager.
"She had done something on the pitch and Jonathan called her a psycho from the sideline.
“I don’t think she let anyone know those types of comments affected her, but they did and they made her uncomfortable.”
Ms Riglar, who left Sheffield in the summer of 2023, moving to Lewes and then Blackburn, also said Mr Morgan asked players who were in a relationship within the team to tell him about it.
Ms Riglar said: “[Ms Cusack] found it uncomfortable when Jonathan would call me ‘Mrs Cusack’, especially in front of other players.
“We wanted to keep our relationship very professional. The football side and relationship side were very separate.”
Ms Riglar left Sheffield United in the summer of 2025 but their relationship continued.
She said Ms Cusack had become “paranoid” at the start of the new season.
She added: “She didn’t really have anyone she could speak to without it getting back to Jonathan.”
Another witness has told the hearing Mr Morgan called Ms Cusack “love sick” following Ms Riglar's departure.
Mr Morgan has said the phrase was a "colloquialism" and has denied calling Ms Riglar "Mrs Cusack", adding that he had said: "Here come the girlfriends."
He said it was a “tongue-in-cheek comment”, which was “meant to be taken as a bit of banter”.
He also denied calling Ms Cusack a "psycho" from the sidelines.
The inquest has also heard from a former teammate of the pair, Sophie Barker, who said Ms Riglar's departure was the main reason for Ms Cusack’s decline in mental health.
She said: “When Maddy found out Grace was going to go so far away, that affected Maddy. She was infatuated with Grace.
“She felt Grace was leaving her – I had to reassure her that Grace was just moving… it didn’t mean they had split or anything like that.”
The inquest continues.
Share