THE BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY:: BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRO-SIERRA LEONEAN " CHRISTOPHER GERALD BART-WILLIAMS " IS A FORMER FOOTBALLER WHO PLAYED AS A DEFENDER OR MIDFIELD : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

Sunday 13 April 2014

BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRO-SIERRA LEONEAN " CHRISTOPHER GERALD BART-WILLIAMS " IS A FORMER FOOTBALLER WHO PLAYED AS A DEFENDER OR MIDFIELD : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Christopher Gerald Bart-Williams (born 16 June 1974 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is a former footballer. His position was 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.

He is currently an assistant coach for SoccerPlus Connecticut, a women's team in the WPSL in America.^[1] He also will be working at Quinnipiac University as an assistant coach for the soccer team.^[2]

Playing career

Leyton Orient

When he was just 16 years old, Bart-Williams launched his professional career with Leyton Orient. He made 36 appearances with the club and scored twice.

Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday showed interest in him and subsequently bought him for the record sum of £275,000 in 1991, 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 got a place in the first team immediately despite his young age. He began his career playing as an attacking midfielder.

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.

He 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 a number of goals, even being the clubs top scorer in the 2000-2001 season, and was often clinical from free kicks and penalties.

During a game in 2000, 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 Nottingham 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^[3] and Birmingham City^[4] and was consigned to the reserves at Forest after the club's directors banned manager Paul Hart from picking him.^[5]

Charlton Athletic

In December 2001, Bart-Williams left Forest, signing for Charlton Athletic, initially on a short-term contract.^[6] In May 2002 he signed a new two-year deal at the club.^[7]

Ipswich Town

After spending two seasons with Charlton, Bart-Williams moved to Ipswich Town, initially on loan in September 2003,^[8] and then permanently for the rest of the 2003–04 season. He was released the end of the season and decided to move away from English football.

APOEL

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.^[9]

Marsaxlokk

After unsuccessful attempts to lure Paul Gascoigne to the club,^{[citation needed]} on 6 August 2005 Maltese team Marsaxlokk signed Bart-Williams.^[10] But he managed only eight appearances and was sent home only two months into his three-year contract.^{[citation needed]}