Sheffield Wednesday announced that Bart-Williams had died in the United States, where he was working as a coach and mentor at Florida-based Dade County.
He was also the owner and chief executive officer of the US College Soccer recruiting agency CBW Soccer Elite, primarily dealing with college players.
During his 16-year playing career, Bart-Williams spent eight seasons in the Premier League and also earned 16 England Under-21 caps.
He began his career at Leyton Orient, and made a significant impact when he scored on his full debut for the club at the age of 16 in a 4-0 victory against Tranmere Rovers. He joined Sheffield Wednesday in 1991 for a then club-record fee of £275k, and went on to make more than 100 appearances for the club.
In 1995, Bart-Williams moved to Nottingham Forest in a £2.5 million deal and continued to excel, scoring 35 goals in 245 appearances for the City Ground side. He lifted the First Division title in 1997-98 with Forest and emerged as their top scorer and player of the year in 2000-01 despite playing as a defensive midfielder.
Nottingham Forest is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our former player Chris Bart-Williams.
Our thoughts go out to Chris’ family and friends at this truly difficult time. pic.twitter.com/aR5p9tmtCL
Bart-Williams also took in spells at Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, APOEL in Cyprus and Maltese side Marsaxlokk before hanging up his boots.
His death was announced just hours after the passing of his former coach and Forest legend Trevor Francis.
“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. Our thoughts are with Chris’ and Trevor’s families and friends at this devastating time,” a statement from Sheffield Wednesday read.
Former Arsenal star Kevin Campbell, who played alongside Bart-Williams at Forest, tweeted: “R.I.P. Chris, love you Bartman! My lil brother we shared such great moments and I truly am devastated at the extremely sad news!”