Chris Bart-Williams

Early life

Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Bart-Williams grew up in North London and attended The School of St. David's and St Katharine's in Hornsey.

Playing career

Early career

Bart-Williams began his professional career at the age of 16 with Leyton Orient and scored on his debut, a 4–0 win against Tranmere Rovers on 2 February 1991. He made 36 league appearances with the club and scored twice.

Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday showed interest in him and subsequently bought him for £275,000 in November 1991 , during their first season in the old Division One, finishing 3rd in the league that season.

Once with Sheffield Wednesday, Bart-Williams was immediately given a first-team place. He began his career playing as an attacking midfielder. On 12 April 1993, he scored a hat-trick against Southampton in a 5–2 win.

Bart-Williams played for Wednesday as a substitute in the 1993 FA Cup Final replacing Chris Waddle in the first game and Roland Nilsson towards the end of the replay.

Bart-Williams also helped the Owls reach the Football League Cup semi-finals in the 1993–94 season and also appeared in their short-lived UEFA Cup campaign (the club's first European run since the 1960s) the previous season.

Nottingham Forest

After four years, he moved to Nottingham Forest for the sum of £2.5 million. Bart-Williams had a successful spell with Forest, and even though he played as a defensive midfielder he managed to score 35 goals, even being the club's top scorer in the 2000–01 season, and was often clinical from free kicks and penalties.

During a game in 2000, Forest tried to experiment with their formation by playing 3–5–2 and played Bart-Williams as a sweeper. This experiment turned out to be a successful one as Nottingham Forest won 5–0 against Burnley, with Bart-Williams scoring twice.

In 2001, Forest found themselves in financial difficulties and had to sell their better players. Bart-Williams turned down moves to Southampton and Birmingham City.

Later career

In December 2001, Bart-Williams left Forest, signing for Charlton Athletic, initially on a short-term contract. In May 2002, he signed a new two-year deal at the club. Bart-Williams had 20 appearances and two goals.

After spending two seasons with Charlton, Bart-Williams moved to Ipswich Town, initially on loan in September 2003, and then permanently for the rest of the 2003–04 season. He was released at the end of the season and decided to move away from English football.

Next for Bart-Williams was a move to APOEL in Cyprus in September 2004. He had been linked with a return to Nottingham Forest, although the rumour was denied by Forest.

After unsuccessful attempts to lure Paul Gascoigne to the club, on 6 August 2005 Maltese team Marsaxlokk signed Bart-Williams. But he managed only eight appearances and was sent home only two months into his three-year contract.

Coaching career

After retiring from professional play, Bart-Williams moved to the United States to coach alongside former U.S. women's national soccer team head coach Tony DiCicco. He served as an assistant for the Boston Breakers, a team in the WPSL. He also was head coach of their reserve squads under the SoccerPlus Connecticut club. Bart-Williams joined the Quinnipiac University men's soccer programme as an assistant coach, helping to lead them to a 2013 MAAC championship and the first round of the NCAA soccer tournament. He also served as an assistant coach for the Quinnipiac University men's soccer team for six years.

Bart-Williams ran an international soccer training and college recruiting service, CBW Soccer Elite, placing talented student-athletes in American college soccer programmes. Bart-Williams was also a consultant to Charlotte Soccer Academy's U.S. Soccer Development Academy programme and was the head of Gulliver Schools' boys' soccer programme in Miami, Florida.

In February 2022, Dade County F.C. announced he had been appointed as head coach to oversee all their football programmes.

Death

Bart-Williams died on 24 July 2023, at the age of 49. He had been working and living in the United States. His death came on the same day as his former Sheffield Wednesday manager Trevor Francis.

Career statistics

Honours

;Sheffield Wednesday

• FA Cup runner-up: 1992–93

;Nottingham Forest

• Football League First Division: 1997–98

;England U19

• FIFA World Youth Championship third place: 1993

;Individual

• Nottingham Forest Player of the Year: 2000–01
• PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2000–01 First Division

References

References

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2. (25 July 2023). "Chris Bart-Williams: Former Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder dies aged 49". Sky Sports.
3. (25 July 2023). "Former midfielder Bart-Williams dies aged 49".
4. "Chris Bart-Williams".
5. Andrews, Phil. (13 April 1993). "Wednesday's strength in depth". The Independent.
6. (26 May 1993). "Sport Football / FA Cup Final: Hirst keeps Wednesday in the hunt: Arsenal fail to follow Wright path to victory as fatigue brings a disappointing stalemate". Independent.
7. (21 May 1993). "Football / FA Cup Final Replay: Wednesday left in Linighan's wake: Waddle's heroics end in tears as an unsung defender plays poacher to give Arsenal unprecedented double". Independent.
8. (25 October 2000). "Nottm Forest 5-0 Burnley". BBC Sport.
9. (5 November 2001). "Saints target Bart-Williams". BBC News.
10. (12 September 2001). "Bart-Williams snubs Blues". BBC News.
11. (3 December 2001). "Charlton swoop for Bart-Williams". BBC News.
12. (12 June 2002). "Bart-Williams secures deal". BBC News.
13. (11 September 2003). "Ipswich complete Bart-Williams deal". BBC News.
14. (4 September 2004). "Forest snub Bart-Williams". BBC News.
15. Lalor, Eric. (9 March 2014). "JOE's forgotten footballers: Chris Bart-Williams".
16. (22 June 2013). "Bart-Williams form". [[UEFA]].
17. [http://www.soccerplusct.com/soccerplusct/staff.html] {{webarchive. link. (1 December 2008)
18. (July 2013)
19. (25 July 2023). "Chris Bart-Williams: former Nottingham Forest midfielder dies aged 49". The Guardian.
20. (24 July 2023). "Former Premier League star Chris Bart-Williams dies aged 49 as tributes pour in". LBC.
21. {{ENFA
22. "Players of the Season 2000's". Nottingham Forest F.C..
23. "PFA's Official Fan's Player of the Year Previous Winners". Professional Footballers' Association.