Samuel Bartram was born in Simonside on the 22nd January 1914 and moved to Boldon at the age of 5 and is the nephew of Jimmy Bartram who played in Scottish football with Falkirk.

When Sam was just 14 he represented Sunderland Schoolboys in the English Schools Shield in which the semi final was reached in 1928. His performances as an outfield player led to an England Schoolboys Selection, however he had to decline this due to working a shift down the mine.

Due to his physique Sam was playing as a centre forward and played alongside his uncle for North Shields after starting his footballing path as a wing half as an unsuccessful trial was had at Reading.
During the 1933/34 season Sam was playing for his local side Boldon Villa and their regular custodian got injured Sam offered his services as a replacement goalkeeper.

After a 5-1 win in the semi final of the South Tyne Alliance League Challenge Cup saw The Villa (current league champions) through to the final against the current holders of the cup Pyman's Tyne Dock.

The final was held on the Good Friday afternoon at the Middle Docks Ground, Stanley Street, Tyne Dock. The kick off was delayed as rumoured reports say that the police advised the gates to be closed due to the number of spectators inside the ground and to prevent the large crowd still outside from entering.

Luckily that day Anthony Seed the Charlton Athletic scout in the North East was in attendance and a clean sheet from Sam who had a great game earning The Villa a replay. Anthony recommended him to his brother Jimmy Seed who was the manager of The Addicks.

After an extended trial Charlton signed Sam as a reserve goalkeeper and his first couple of games did not go as well as hoped, however Sam was given his chance in the first team and never looked back, he played at the valley for 22 seasons and was never dropped.

In his first couple of seasons the club went from division 3 to division 1 and reached Wembley in the FA Cup Final on four occasions, finally winning it in 1947 winning 1-0 against Burnley alongside Jack Shreeve who was signed from Boldon Villa the season after Sam.

During the following season both Sam and Jack paraded the FA Cup around Boldon when they returned to the North East to play Sunderland in a league game.

Sam had some memorable moments in football until his retirement. The famous fog incident when playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge when Sam remained in goal not realising that the referee had stopped the game a quarter of an hour earlier, how long Sam would of remained there is unknown, luckily a policeman arrived on the scene and advised Sam of the abandonment of the game.

In the semi final of the FA Cup at Elland Road against Newcastle, Sam wore a hot poultice under his goalkeeper jersey due to coming down with food poisoning.

Sam would have the unwanted tag of being the finest goalkeeper never to play for England. An England B International and representing England on a tour of Australia was the closest he would come.

On the 6th of March 1954 aged 40 Sam played in a record 500 league games and also finish runner up in the Footballer of the Year awards.

Sam retired in 1956 at the age of 42 having made 623 appearances and also become the oldest player in the Football League.

Sam had a couple of spells in management firstly with York City between 1956-1960 winning 85 of his 211 matches, he moved to Luton Town in 1960 winning 35 of his 95 matches during his two seasons with the club.

Sam would go on to be a journalist and in January of this year it would of been his 110th birthday.

In sport the word legend can be over used but not for Sam. In 1976 behind the Jimmy Seed end a new housing area was erected and was named Sam Bartram Close.

On the 9th June 2005 Charlton unveiled a 9ft statue of Sam Bartram for their Centenary in honour of the club legend.

In 2008 Boldon honoured the great man when they introduced the Sam Bartram Memorial Cup.

The game v York City in 2011 saw the official switch on of the Sam Bartram Floodlights and the honour of officially switching them on fell to Sam's daughter Moira who had travelled over from her home in Canada.

This Wednesday the Sam Bartram Memorial Cup will be played for by Boldon CA and South Shields at the Welfare Ground in honour of a football legend who grew up in Boldon and played for The Villa.