Chris Bart-Williams, former Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest midfielder, has died at the age of 49.

Chris Bart-Williams spent six years at Nottingham Forest. p>

Bart-Williams spent 16 years as a professional, during which he spent eight years in the Premier League and played 16 times for the England under-21s.

His former Forest teammate Mark Crossley paid tribute on social media to Bart-Williams and Trevor Francis, who passed away earlier Monday. Francis managed the Bart-Williams team on a Wednesday in the early 1990s.

Crossley tweeted: «Awful and I'm so saddened by the news of the death of Trevor Francis and my former teammate Chris Bart Williams, both so young it's so sad.»

Kevin Campbell, a former Everton and Arsenal player, as well as Forest with Bart-Williams, tweeted: «Rest in peace. Chris, love you, Bartman! My little brother, we've had such great moments and I'm really devastated by the extremely sad news!»

Bart-Williams was born in Sierra Leone and moved to Leyton Orient before joining Sheffield Wednesday for a club-record fee of £275,000 in 1991.

He played 156 times on a Wednesday, including the final in the 1993 FA Cup campaign and in the following season's UEFA Cup campaign.

Although he was an attacking midfielder most of the time in the game, he took on a more defensive role later in his career.

He had a knack for scoring goals, including a Premier League hat-trick in a 5-2 win over Southampton at Hillsborough in 1993, when he was only 18.

Just when I thought the day couldn't get any worse, I heard the terrible news that Chris Bart-Williams had passed away.

I think of Chris' family and friends. during this difficult time.

RIP Chris. pic.twitter.com/DA38v4BXeW

— David Speedie (@DavidSpeedie10) July 24, 2023

It wasn't enough for manager Francis to take him to the League Cup final six days later, in which Wednesday lost 2-1 to Arsenal, but Bart-Williams' sheer talent caught the eye.

The following season, he helped Wednesday reach the League Cup semi-finals, in which they lost to Manchester United within two matches.

After four years, Bart-Williams moved to Forest on Wednesday at 1 995 in a £2.5 million deal. Later he played for Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, Apoel from Cyprus and Marsaxlokk from Malta.

💙 The club is saddened by the news of the passing of former player Chris Bart-Williams.

Once blue, always blue. #itfc pic.twitter.com/Q5iSlYPUSw

— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown), July 24, 2023

Following his retirement, he took up coaching in the United States, where he also recruited college players and ran a mentoring program for young players called CBW Soccer Elite. waste your experience» without helping the next generation of players.