S.U.W in September: to Maddy

Our Sheffield United Women's correspondent John Slingsby takes us through September's results, and pays tribute to the brilliant Maddy Cusack

Oct 02, 2023

United’s games during the first full month of the season had a little bit of everything. Goals galore, nail-bitingly-close contests, and even a penalty save for good measure. Let’s take a look back at the month that was September 2023.

Blackburn Rovers 2 - 1 Sheffield United

Despite taking an early lead through Isobel Goodwin, United couldn’t add to their single goal at Ewood Park despite creating chances. Two goals in 16 second-half minutes saw Blackburn come away with the three points. After Goodwin’s first of the season, Haywood, Graham and Rayner all went close, but the second goal wouldn’t come and United were left ruing missed chances on the way home to Sheffield. A special mention to Fran Stenson before we move on to Lewes, with our No. 1 saving a penalty from ex-Blade Georgia Walters in the first half. A disappointing start to the month, but the response against Lewes more than made up for it.

Sheffield United 1 - 0 Lewes

Isobel Goodwin was at it again against Lewes, bagging her second goal in as many games to secure a first win of the season. Alongside the goal, a stout defensive performance also led to a first clean sheet of the campaign. United controlled the contest from minute one, but despite the domination, United were almost undone in the first half: a quick Lewes counter attack ended with a sitter aimed straight at Fran Stenson with the goal gaping.

United heeded the warning after, and should have opened the scoring a couple of times before we eventually did in the 73rd minute. The winner came after the ever impressive Rachel Brown collected a poor clearance from Lewes. Bursting past her marker, our Scottish under-23 international (more on that shortly) picked out Izzy at the near post with Goodwin poking home the winning goal. Goodwin went close again as the contest began to wind down, but that would be that for United and our first win of the season was secured!

International Watch

A few of our players were recently called up for international duty during the recent break. Those involved and their respective nations were:

Tara Bourne - England Under 23s

Charlotte Newsham - Scotland Under 23s

Rachel Brown - Scotland Under 23s

Fallon Connolly-Jackson - Scotland Under 19s

Tara was an unused substitute in England’s encounters with Norway (1-1) and Belgium (3-0 England win). Rachel Brown and Charlotte Newsham joined Scotland’s Under 23s for a six day camp in Italy that culminated in a game against Australia. Both players started against The Matildas and were unfortunately on the losing side – Australia eked out a 1-0 win with the goal coming in the second half.

Fallon Connolly-Jackson started on the subs bench in the first game of a double-header for Scotland against Hungary. Winning the first game 2-0, Fallon would go on to start the return fixture in Edinburgh. A first-half double from Hungary was responded to in the second period by Laura Berry, but that would be that for the young Scots as they came away from the game with a narrow 2-1 defeat. Congratulations to all four players on getting called up to their national teams.

Maddy Cusack

The first time that I ever saw Maddy play for United was back in August 2021. United were playing Durham at Chesterfield’s SMH Group Stadium, and thanks to goals from Lucy Watson and Jess Clarke, we’d largely run away with the contest. With the game coming to an end, one thing in particular sticks in my mind about that game: a tackle that Maddy made close to the byline where the fans were situated. Maddy won the ball on the touchline with one of ‘those’ tackles that gets everyone in the stadium on their feet and letting out a massive roar. It was a cracking challenge that was clean as a whistle. If any game summed up Maddy as a player, it was probably that one. She was absolutely everywhere throughout, with tackles and pinpoint passes galore, none more so than when she whipped in a fantastic corner that Clarke nodded home for our second goal of the game. A superb performance that was the norm for Maddy in a United shirt.

That battling grit and determination and putting the needs of the team on her shoulders, alongside her innate ability to produce moments of magic with passes, crosses and long range efforts sum Maddy’s playing style up to a tee. Since United moved to Bramall Lane, myself and the 1,000+ others who come to watch them every other week saw that magic week in, week out on a first-hand basis. Two goals with an average distance of about 35 yards against Coventry; midfield dominance against WSL West Ham in a Cup game in January; more of the same in a season-ending rout of Sunderland. We were lucky to see Maddy keep on dominating and keep on contributing for the badge every time she crossed the line in a Blades shirt.

Sheffield United Women’s team wouldn’t be where we are now without Maddy. Over a hundred appearances for United, ranging from Olympic Legacy Park all the way to Bramall Lane. When you think of Sheffield United Women’s team, you think (or see) Maddy Cusack. She was a major part of every single ad campaign that United ran for the team. Whether that be sitting in a digger at the aforementioned OLP or being front and centre of the campaign that saw United come home to Bramall Lane after a few campaigns away from the city. Even if you’ve never seen a Sheffield United Women’s game, you’ll have seen Maddy in a Blades shirt. You couldn’t miss her at times, especially when she was about 25 feet tall on the side of the South Stand advertising one of our Adidas kits. The high esteem to which she was held by the club was unmissable and it was everything that Maddy deserved and more.

Alongside her role as our do-it-all midfield maestro, Maddy was a major part of our marketing and media team. If you bought a programme for United when we were still playing at Chesterfield, the editor for those programmes was Maddy. Go and have a look at them now: you’ll see her name both on the team sheet and just above the sponsors in her second role at the club. For any big success that the club has enjoyed, be it a big win or promotion, look in the videos and more often than not, you’ll see Maddy either filming content or recording it. Sheffield United’s marketing department has been a massive, massive plus point over the last couple of years that perfectly encapsulates the feeling and DNA of what it is to be a United fan. More likely than not, those campaigns have probably had something to do with Maddy. She completely understood what it is to be a Blade and created campaigns that will not be forgotten for a long, long time.

It’s going to be tough not seeing Maddy front and centre for United going forward, be it on the pitch or as a part of our new kit campaign. Maddy has always been there for United over the course of the past five years. There will never be another player or person who will be as synonymous with United as Maddy is. Maddy Cusack wasn’t just the face of Sheffield United Women’s team. Maddy Cusack was the face of Sheffield United.