The goalkeeper forgotten on the field: Who is Sam Bartram?

Sam Bartram, who guarded Charlton Athletic's goal between 1934 and 1956, is the hero of the famous fog story that happened in 1937.

In 1937, Chelsea and Charlton Athletic faced each other in the FA Cup. In the London derby, the players of both teams are quite nervous. The two teams started to fight with mutual goals and while the teams were struggling to leave the field with a victory, suddenly the field was covered with fog. He was unable to see on the field, and the referee of the match decided that the match could not be played under heavy fog and called off the match by blowing his whistle in the 61st minute.

Samuel Bartram (22 January 1914 – 17 July 1981) was an English professional footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper and holds the record for most appearances for Charlton Athletic, his only club at the professional level.

The players from both teams went to the locker room without wasting any time. Footballers wearing Charlton Athletic jerseys realize that a name is missing from them. This name is Sam, the team's goalkeeper. The locker room and stadium corridors are thoroughly searched, but they cannot find any trace of Sam. Eventually, Charlton Athletic players seek help from a police officer. When the police set foot on the field ground, the fog still did not clear. Sam Bartram is surprised when the police officer slowly scans the field and arrives at the Charlton Athletic goal.

Legendary goalkeeper Bartram described the incident as follows in his autobiography: Since I knew that our team was pressing hard at the goal line, I started to move back and forth comfortably. I thought to myself that our children were overwhelming the old people. But obviously, we couldn't score because if we had scored, our team would have come back. As time went by, I started to go as far as the penalty line, but nothing was visible. It was obvious that the Chelsea defense was working hard. After a while, I saw something in the fog cloud. A police officer was coming towards me. 'What are you doing here?' said. The game had stopped 15 minutes ago. When I entered the dressing room, the entire Charlton team had showered and put on their civilian clothes. They all fell on the ground laughing.

Sam Bartram, who did not hear the referee's decision, waited for the leather ball in his goal for half an hour. Because of this memory, Sam Bartram has an extremely important place for Charlton Athletic fans. The statue of Sam Bartram, who played for Charlton Athletic for 22 years, is located in front of The Valley Stadium.