Why has Sheffield United’s leadership treated Maddy Cusack’s...

How could they be so callous, so stern, so heartless?

This is only one instance of what has forced Sheffield United to disregard the requests of numerous supporters who

wanted Maddy Cusack’s shirt to be retired. And why didn’t they even have the grace to tell her bereaved family after

coming to that conclusion?

Since so many of their acquaintances have gone above and beyond to support Maddy’s family since that terrible day

in September 2023 when she committed suicide, it is challenging to ask the club these kinds of questions.

But this is directed to the people at the top of the club and goes beyond their decision, kept hidden from Maddy’s

family, to reject a 1,200-name petition asking the club to retire her No 8 shirt. There is more to this story. Piecing

together all the evidence, it is difficult to reach any conclusion other than the club, at its highest level, pulled down

the shutters on Maddy’s family. For that, they should explain themselves.

One thing that is definite is that the family has found it extremely upsetting. Perhaps the saddest thing, though, is

that any of us who have witnessed a discernible hardening of attitudes from those who once supported Maddy as

“Miss Sheffield United” and knew her as a marketing executive, the vice-captain, and the longest-serving member of

the women’s team should not be surprised by the club’s decision to keep her shirt.

It was seen to everybody during a vigil held outside the stadium in September, the first anniversary of Maddy’s

passing, when it was almost unthinkable that no one in the club’s leadership had the grace to leave their offices and

reveal their faces.

Yet it goes much further back if you stop to consider that nobody senior from the club has checked in on Maddy’s

family since a telephone call from the chief executive, Stephen Bettis, in December 2023.

Bettis talks a good game. The club wanted to remain in close contact, he told the family, and do everything they could

to support the family and the charity foundation set up in Maddy’s name. And on and on.

were empty words, as it has long been clear that sentiments have drastically altered since the club said that they were

in “regular communication” with the family and providing them with “full support.”

The reality is a little different. There is no communication at the boardroom level. The charity foundation established

in Maddy’s honour has not received any funding from the club. It is not even followed on social media by the club’s

accounts. Almost by coincidence, the family has recently learnt that the club has no plans to retire Maddy’s shirt.

This decision would have likely been kept under wraps if it hadn’t been revealed in the minutes of a November 7 fan

advisory board (FAB) meeting.

Why has Sheffield United’s leadership treated Maddy Cusack’s memory so callously?