Chris Bart-Williams

Christopher Gerald Bart-Williams (16 June 1974 – 24 July 2023) was an English football coach and professional player.

Chris Bart-Williams
Bart-Williams in 2018
Personal information
Full name Christopher Gerald Bart-Williams
Date of birth (1974-06-16)16 June 1974[1]
Place of birth Freetown, Sierra Leone
Date of death 24 July 2023(2023-07-24) (aged 49)
Place of death Miami, Florida, US[2]
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender, midfielder
Youth career
0000–1990 Leyton Orient
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1991 Leyton Orient 36 (2)
1991–1995 Sheffield Wednesday 124 (16)
1995–2002 Nottingham Forest 207 (30)
2001–2002 → Charlton Athletic (loan) 6 (0)
2002–2003 Charlton Athletic 23 (2)
2003 → Ipswich Town (loan) 16 (2)
2003–2004 Ipswich Town 10 (0)
2004–2005 APOEL 19 (0)
2005–2006 Marsaxlokk 8 (0)
Total 449 (52)
International career
England U19 7 (0)
1992–1995 England U21 16 (2)
1994 England B 1 (0)
Managerial career
Boston Breakers (assistant coach)
SoccerPlus Connecticut
Quinnipiac Bobcats (assistant coach)
CBW Soccer Elite
Gulliver Raiders
2022–2023 Dade County F.C.
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player, he was a defender and midfielder and notably played in the Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and Charlton Athletic. He also played in the Football League for Leyton Orient and Ipswich Town, in Cyprus with APOEL and in Malta with Marsaxlokk. Born in Sierra Leone, He was capped by England at youth level and went on to play for England under-21s and was called up to train with the senior squad although he never won a full England cap.

Following retirement, Bart-Williams moved into coaching in the United States and notably worked as assistant coach of Women's Premier Soccer League side SoccerPlus Connecticut.

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. He represented his school, borough (Haringey), and county (Middlesex).

Playing career
Bart-Williams in 2003

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.[3] He made 36 league appearances with the club and scored twice.[4]

Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday showed interest in him and subsequently bought him for £275,000 in November 1991,[4] the year they won promotion to the Football League First Division and were also winners of the Football League Cup.

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.[5]

Bart-Williams played for Wednesday as a substitute in the 1993 FA Cup Final replacing Chris Waddle in the first game[6] and Roland Nilsson towards the end of the replay.[7]

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.[8]

In 2001, Forest found themselves in financial difficulties and had to sell their better players. Bart-Williams turned down moves to Southampton[9] and Birmingham City.[10]

Later career

In December 2001, Bart-Williams left Forest, signing for Charlton Athletic, initially on a short-term contract.[11] In May 2002, he signed a new two-year deal at the club.[12] 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,[13] 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.[14]

After unsuccessful attempts to lure Paul Gascoigne to the club,[15] on 6 August 2005 Maltese team Marsaxlokk signed Bart-Williams.[16] 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.[17] He also served as an assistant coach for the Quinnipiac University men's soccer team for six years.[18]

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.[19]

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.[20][2]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[21]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Leyton Orient 1990–91 Third Division 21200001[lower-alpha 1]0222
1991–92 Third Division 15000401[lower-alpha 1]0200
Total 362004020422
Sheffield Wednesday 1991–92 First Division 15011001[lower-alpha 2]0171
1992–93 Premier League 34640713[lower-alpha 3]2489
1993–94 Premier League 3784151—4610
1994–95 Premier League 3823042—454
Total 124161221644215624
Nottingham Forest 1995–96 Premier League 33070208[lower-alpha 3]0500
1996–97 Premier League 1612030—211
1997–98 First Division 3340030—364
1998–99 Premier League 2431020—273
1999–2000 First Division 3853221—438
2000–01 First Division 46141021—4915
2001–02 First Division 1730021—194
Total 207301421638024535
Charlton Athletic 2001–02 Premier League 1612000—181
2002–03 Premier League 1312000—151
Total 2924000—332
Ipswich Town 2003–04 First Division 26210001[lower-alpha 4]0282
Career total 4225231436715250465
  1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearance in Full Members' Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  4. Appearance in First Division play-offs

Honours
Sheffield Wednesday
Nottingham Forest
England U19
Individual

References
  1. "Chris Bart-Williams". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  2. "Chris Bart-Williams: Former Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder dies aged 49". Sky Sports. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  3. "Former midfielder Bart-Williams dies aged 49". BBC Sport. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  4. "Chris Bart-Williams". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  5. Andrews, Phil (13 April 1993). "Wednesday's strength in depth". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  6. Fox, Norman (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. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  7. Lovejoy, Joe (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. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  8. "Nottm Forest 5-0 Burnley". BBC Sport. 25 October 2000.
  9. "Saints target Bart-Williams". BBC News. 5 November 2001.
  10. "Bart-Williams snubs Blues". BBC News. 12 September 2001.
  11. "Charlton swoop for Bart-Williams". BBC News. 3 December 2001.
  12. "Bart-Williams secures deal". BBC News. 12 June 2002.
  13. "Ipswich complete Bart-Williams deal". BBC News. 11 September 2003.
  14. "Forest snub Bart-Williams". BBC News. 4 September 2004.
  15. Lalor, Eric; Boyle, Callum; Carr, Hugh; Fleming, Rory (9 March 2014). "JOE's forgotten footballers: Chris Bart-Williams". JOE.ie. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  16. "Bart-Williams form". Uefa.com. 22 June 2013.
  17. Archived 1 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  19. "Chris Bart-Williams: former Nottingham Forest midfielder dies aged 49". The Guardian. PA News Agency. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  20. "Former Premier League star Chris Bart-Williams dies aged 49 as tributes pour in". LBC. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  21. Chris Bart-Williams at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  22. "Players of the Season 2000's". Nottingham Forest F.C. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  23. "PFA's Official Fan's Player of the Year Previous Winners". GiveMeFootball.com. Professional Footballers' Association. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
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