Family alleges Burnley bullying at Beard inquest hearing

A pre-inquest hearing into the death of former Liverpool women's football manager Matt Beard revealed allegations from his family that he was bullied by Burnley FC, contributing to a decline in his mental health before he died aged 47 on September 20, 2025. The hearing took place at Ruthin County Hall.

Beard, who led Liverpool to back-to-back Women's Super League titles in 2013 and 2014 and returned for a second spell at the club until February 2025, joined Burnley as head coach in June 2025. He resigned in August, just over three weeks before his death at the Countess of Chester Hospital from a hypoxic brain injury. A provisional cause of death was recorded as suicide.

Beard's wife, Debbie, told the hearing that her husband left Burnley because he was unhappy there. "Matt left Burnley not to go to another job, he left Burnley because he wasn't happy there. Basically, they didn't allow him to move on. I feel like they bullied him, to be honest," she said. The family described his departure as the catalyst for his deteriorating mental wellbeing and requested that a video he recorded shortly before his death be reviewed in court. Debbie Beard added that her husband left the video...