Chris Bart-Williams

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 , 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.^[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.^{[citation needed]}

Nottingham Forest

After four years, he moved to Nottingham Forest for the sum of £2.5 million. His manager at the City Ground was Frank Clark, who had given him his senior debut at Leyton Orient.

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. He played in the UEFA Cup in his first season, saw Forest relegated in his second season, promoted in his third and relegated in his fourth. He spent seven seasons with the East Midlands side, who finished around mid table in Division One in each of his final three seasons.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}