ormer Nottingham Forest midfielder Chris Bart-Williams has died on the age of 49.

Sheffield Wednesday, one other membership the ex-England Under-21 worldwide was synonymous with, stated Bart-Williams died within the United States, the place he had been working as a coach and mentor.

The news got here on the identical day because the loss of life of each golf equipment' former striker Trevor Francis, who died aged 69.

"Bart-Williams' untimely passing mirrors that of his manager at Hillsborough Trevor Francis, who also died on this, one of the darkest days in our long history," an announcement from Wednesday stated.

"Our thoughts are with Chris' and Trevor's families and friends at this devastating time."

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Sierra Leone-born Bart-Williams, who started his profession as a trainee at Leyton Orient, made greater than 150 appearances for Wednesday, for whom he performed within the Premier League as a young person, earlier than incomes a £2.5million transfer to Forest in July 1995.

He performed 248 video games for Forest and later had spells with Charlton and Ipswich earlier than shifting into teaching within the United States following his retirement as a participant, initially working in ladies's faculty soccer.

Describing himself on his social media accounts as "coach, college recruiter, former footballer", Bart-Williams was proprietor and chief government officer of US College Soccer recruiting company CBW Soccer Elite, working with college-bound gamers.

His LinkedIn profile reads: "As a retired athlete with 35 years of international playing and coaching experience, I'm passionate about developing young adults into highly successful soccer players.

"My aim is to empower youngsters to have the arrogance and technical capability to excel in soccer whereas studying useful classes in accountability and teamwork that may put together them for a lifetime of success. Everything I do is designed to maximise athletes' distinctive potential and propel them to their private greatest in soccer and in life."

In February last year, Florida-based Dade County announced Bart-Williams had been appointed as its head coach to oversee all its football programmes.

News of his death was greeted with shock by former team-mate Mark Crossley.

The goalkeeper, who played with Bart-Williams at Forest, said on social media: "Devastating and I'm so upset to listen to the news of Trevor Francis passing and my former crew mate Chris Bart Williams, each so younger, it's so unhappy , RIP Trevor and Chris."

Ipswich also offered their condolences, posting: "The membership is saddened to study of the passing of former participant Chris Bart-Williams. Once a Blue, all the time a Blue."

Additional reporting from Press Association.