Chris Bart-Williams
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| Chris Bart-Williams | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Gerald Bart-Williams | |
| Date of birth | June 16, 1974 (age 32) | |
| Place of birth |  Freetown, Sierra Leone |
|
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |
| Nickname | Barty Willy, Bartman[1] | |
| Playing position | Defender/Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Unattached | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1991 1991-1995 1995-2002 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 |
Leyton Orient Sheffield Wednesday Nottingham Forest →Charlton Athletic (loan) Charlton Athletic →Ipswich Town (loan) Ipswich Town APOEL Nicosia Marsaxlokk |
36 (2) 124 (16) 207 (30) 6 (0) 23 (2) 16 (2) 10 (0) ? (?) 8 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
 England Under 21 |
16 (2) | |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Christopher Gerald Bart-Williams (born June 16, 1974 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is an English professional football currently without a club, after leaving Maltese team Marsaxlokk at the end of the 2005-2006 season. His position is defence or midfield.
Although born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Bart-Williams grew up in North London and attended St. David's School and St Katharine in Hornsey. He represented his school, borough (Haringey), county (Middlesex), and adopted country (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.
When he was just 16 years old, Bart-Williams launched his professional career with Leyton Orient. After 36 games with Orient, Sheffield Wednesday showed interest in him and subsequently bought him for the record sum of £275,000. Once with Sheffield Wednesday, Bart-Williams got a place in the first team immediately despite his young age. He began his career playing as an offensive midfielder.
After 4 years he moved to Nottingham Forest for the sum of £2.5 million. Bart-Williams had a successful spell with Nottingham Forest, and even though he played as a defensive midfielder he managed to score a number of goals, and was often clinical from free kicks and penalties.
During a game in 2000, Nottingham Forest tried to experiment their formation by playing 3-5-2 and played Bart-Williams as a sweeper, this experiment turned out to be a successful one as Forest won 5-0.
In 2001, Forest found themselves in financial difficulties and had to sell their better players. Bart-Williams turned down moves to Southampton[2] and Birmingham City[3] and was consigned to the reserves at Forest after the club's directors banned manager Paul Hart from picking him.[4]
In December 2001, Bart-Williams finally left Forest, signing for Charlton Athletic, initially on a short-term contract.[5] In May 2002 he signed a new two year deal at the club.[6] After spending two seasons with Charlton, Bart-Williams moved to Ipswich Town, initially on loan in September 2003,[7] and then permanently for the rest of the 2003/2004 season. He was released the end of the season and decided to move away from English football, making a surprise move to APOEL Nicosia in Cyprus in September 2004[8]. He had been linked with a return to Nottingham Forest, a rumour denied by Forest.[9]
After unsuccessful attempts to lure Paul Gascoigne to the club, on August 6, 2005 Maltese team Marsaxlokk announced the signing of Bart-Williams [10] who became undoubtably the greatest player acquirement that Marsaxlokk had ever achieved, but after playing just one season with the club, and making eight impressive appearances, Bart-Williams was struck down with a serious spinal injury and after failing to recover from the injury he left the club at the end of the season, and it is unlikely that Bart-Williams will ever play competitive football again as he has recently taken up a coaching role training youngsters on America's east coast.
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Categories: English footballers | England under-21 international footballers | Football (soccer) defenders | Football (soccer) midfielders | English footballers not playing in England | FA Premier League players | Leyton Orient F.C. players | Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players | Nottingham Forest F.C. players | Charlton Athletic F.C. players | Ipswich Town F.C. players | APOEL FC players | Marsaxlokk F.C. players | People from London | 1974 births | Living people
