Sheffield United To Celebrate Maddy Cusack Life As They Resume Championship

• Sheffield United to celebrate midfielder’s life as they resume Women’s Championship season.

Sheffield United will celebrate the life of midfielder Maddy Cusack when they play their first game since her death against London City Lionesses at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

Cusack – the first player to reach 100 appearances for the team last season – died in September at the age of 27.

Police are not treating her death as suspicious.

The Blades’ fixture against Crystal Palace, due to be played last Saturday, was postponed.

Cusack had been at United since 2019 and also worked in the club’s marketing department.

The club said they were “devastated” by her passing while men’s manager Paul Heckingbottom said Cusack was a “big part of everything” at the club.

Tributes have been paid at football matches across the country since her death, including before the Blades’ men’s Premier League match against Newcastle on 24 September, with players walking out wearing shirts bearing Cusack’s name and squad number.

Members of Cusack’s family joined United’s women’s captain Sophie Barker and former player Tony Currie to lay a wreath in the centre circle.

A minute’s silence was held before kick-off, with fans applauding in the eighth minute of the match to represent Cusack’s squad number.

Tributes were also paid before England’s Lionesses played Scotland in the Women’s Nations League last month, as well as at Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship fixtures last weekend.

Cusack previously played for Birmingham, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.

Saturday’s Women’s Championship game against London City Lionesses was originally scheduled for Sunday but was moved forward to allow former team-mates of Cusack’s to attend.

Kick off at Bramall Lane is at 13:00 BST.