Sam Bartram

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Sam Bartram (born 22 January 1914 in Simonside, County Durham; died 17 July 1981) was an English goalkeeper and football manager.

After school, Sam Bartram became a miner and played as either centre forward or wing-half for both Durham and Bolden Villa. During a game for Bolden Villa, Sam was playing midfield when the goal keeper was injured and Sam took over in goal. A scout from Charlton Athletic, Jimmy Seed, was watching the game and Sam played so well that Jimmy recommended Charlton to sign him. He subsequently played in goal for Charlton for 22 years, and was never dropped from the team until he retired in 1956.

Although Sam played for the England B team, he was burdened with the unwanted praise of 'the finest goalkeeper never to play for England' as the England national football team had both Frank Swift and Ted Ditchburn jostling for the goalkeeper position.

Sam hold the following records for Charlton Athletic:

Most FA Cup Appearances: 44
Most Total Appearances: 623
Most League Appearances: 579
Oldest League Player Aged: 42

Bartram left Charlton to manage York City, then Luton Town, and spent his final years in Harpenden.

[edit] Miscellanea

- In 2005, a nine-foot statue of Sam Bartram was erected outside the Valley, home of Charlton Athletic, in order to celebrate the club's centenary.

- Sam was involved in a well reported incident when thick fog closed in on a game he was playing at the Valley.

"Soon after the kick-off," he wrote in his autobiography, "[fog] began to thicken rapidly at the far end, travelling past Vic Woodley in the Chelsea goal and rolling steadily towards me. The referee stopped the game, and then, as visibility became clearer, restarted it. We were on top at this time, and I saw fewer and fewer figures as we attacked steadily." The game went unusually silent but Sam remained at his post, peering into the thickening fog from the edge of the penalty area. And he wondered why the play was not coming his way. "After a long time," he wrote, "a figure loomed out of the curtain of fog in front of me. It was a policeman, and he gaped at me incredulously. "What on earth are you doing here?" he gasped. "The game was stopped a quarter of an hour ago. The field's completely empty".'