On Christmas Day in 1937, in a football game between Charlton Athletic and Chelsea, the Charlton goalkeeper, stood on the pitch alone for 15 minutes after the game had been canceled due to the thick fog. He didn’t leave the goal he was defending until a policeman approached him.
Hope you’re having a better Christmas Day than Charlton’s goalkeeper 82 years ago!
Chelsea-Charlton on boxing day 1937 was interrupted at the 60th minute due to intense fog.
The Charlton keeper stayed on the pitch for 20 more minutes without knowing anything.
The following questions then arise:
- Is this story true?
- Is this a photo of the Charlton goalkeeper on the day of the match?
On Christmas Day 1937, Bartram was in the papers once more after a bizarre incident in a match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. With the score at 1-1, the game had to be called off on 61 minutes due to thick fog. Unfortunately for Bartram,
he was the last to be made aware. “Soon after the kick-off, [fog] began to thicken rapidly at the far end, travelling past Vic Woodley in the Chelsea goal and rolling steadily towards me,” he wrote in his autobiography.
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
