Sheffield United Women have sacked Jonathan Morgan as manager after it emerged he had a relationship with a teenage player while in charge at Leicester City Women – described in a club statement as his “conduct before arriving at Bramall Lane.”
His agency Tongue Tied Management (TTM) have also terminated their contract with him.
Morgan, who was recently cleared of wrongdoing in an investigation into the death of the player Maddy Cusack, took over Leicester’s senior team in his first full managerial role in 2014.
The Athletic revealed that he maintained a secret relationship for nearly three years with a teenage player from his own team. The outlet spoke directly with Morgan hours after he’d been sacked by United – although the coach did not choose to disclose this at the time.
Why Sheffield United sacked Morgan
The family of the player in question allege that she was 17 at the time of her relationship with Morgan, who was then in his late 20s. Morgan insists she was 18.
He admits to knowing the relationship was ‘ethically wrong’ but not illegal. The player eventually left Leicester after the relationship broke down when she was 20, and now in her mid-20s calls it “an abuse of his power.”
The nature of the Foxes’ structure at the time made it difficult for the player or her family to raise concerns, with Morgan’s father the chairman and his sister the general manager. The women’s wing of the club was not at that time affiliated with Leicester City, being bought by the men’s side in August 2020.
Morgan stepped away from his duties for over three months after Maddy Cusack’s family made a formal complaint against him. He was cleared in December, although a Football Association investigation remains ongoing. Twenty-seven-year-old Cusack tragically died in September and was found at her home, with police not treating her death as suspicious.
Luke Turner has agreed to take the role of interim head coach “for the foreseeable future” at Sheffield United.
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