Everyone left the pitch - But Charlton Athletic's goalkeeper didn't know | OneFootball

Sam Bartram's antics at Stamford Bridge for the Addicks have gone down in football history

Charlton Athletic are one of several London clubs with a rich history, one which dates all the way back to their formation in the summer of 1905.

The Addicks' 121-year existence has also been full of drama both on and off the pitch, and that has certainly been the case in the years which followed a nine-year spell in the Premier League between 1998 and 2007.

Indeed, the South London outfit have, since then, spent time bouncing between the Championship and League One, although they will hope such fortunes change in the future, and that they can start to progress forward under the management of Nathan Jones.

The Welshman has often tapped into the history of the club and its famous stadium, The Valley, in pre-match and post-match press conferences, having often seen the club's supporters at their very best when it comes to backing their side in critical matches.

During his tenure of over two years to-date, the Reds have contested in the League One play-offs, winning the final at Wembley Stadium in May 2025, as well as making their SE7 home a 'fortress' of sorts to ensure Championship survival with a game to spare in 2025/26.

Yet, in terms of opposition, despite a 5-1 defeat in the FA Cup third round in January 2026, Jones' biggest match would come against Chelsea on home turf, in front of the television cameras.

Unsurprisingly, it is a result that, in many ways, was to be expected - albeit not by a four-goal margin - in what was Liam Rosenior's first game in charge of the Blues.

However, it certainly isn't the most famous game involving the two London outfits, never mind a stand-alone incident.

Sam Bartram's forgetful, yet hilarious antics in Chelsea v Charlton Athletic contest almost 100 years ago

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That's because, back in 1937, almost 90 years ago, Addicks goalkeeper, Sam Bartram, who is now immortalised at The Valley with a statue outside the club's main reception, was involved in a forgetful, yet extremely hilarious incident when Chelsea and Charlton met at Stamford Bridge.

Unsurprisingly, with the First Division London derby initially set to take place on Christmas Day 1937, there would have been a high chance of plummeting temperatures and, with that, extremely unpleasant conditions in stadiums not exactly fitted with the facilities which enable games to still commence in adverse weather today.

In the 61st minute between the two sides, the scores were locked level at 1-1, when the referee made the key decision to abandon the game due to extreme fog.

Bartram, though, was the last to be made aware of the man in the middle's decision, despite all 21 other players from both sides immediately leaving the field of play.

The Addicks goalkeeper, in his autobiography, would recall the thick cloud beginning to cover the turf after previously rolling past his Chelsea counterpart, Vic Woodley.

He also stated that the official's decision to abandon the game wasn't the first time play had been halted, before eventually referencing how, in bizarre circumstances, he learned that his teammates were inside the dressing room one man down.

"I paced up and down my goal-line, happy in the knowledge that Chelsea were being pinned in their own half. 'The boys must be giving the Pensioners the hammer,' he said.

"I thought smugly, as I stamped my feet for warmth. Quite obviously, however, we were not getting the ball into the net. For no players were coming back to line up, as they would have done following a goal. Time passed, and I made several advances towards the edge of the penalty area, peering through the murk, which was getting thicker every minute. Still I could see nothing. The Chelsea defence was clearly being run off its feet.

"After a long time 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'. And when I groped my way to the dressing-room, the rest of the Charlton team, already out of the bath and in their civvies, were convulsed with laughter," Bartram added.

Charlton Athletic had further laughs over Chelsea following Sam Bartram incident

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While for some players, being the subject of such an incident could have an adverse effect, that couldn't have been further from the case for Bartram and his Addicks teammates in the two games that were eventually played out against their West London opponents that season, as well as his overall career.

Indeed, Charlton went on to take four points from six against the Blues, with their 3-1 win on home turf coming two days after the aforementioned fixture was abandoned, whilst, when replayed at Stamford Bridge in April 1938, the original fixture's scoreline went on to stand after 90 minutes.

Bartram, as previously mentioned, is now forever remembered by Charlton through his statue, which acknowledges his 579 appearances as a one-club stalwart, which also coincided with three appearances in the England 'wartime' XI during the Second World War.