Bartlett Fred Image 1 Clapton Orient 1937

Description

Reading, Berkshire born centre half Fred Bartlett began his senior football career with Third Division (South) club Queen’s Park Rangers signing for them in October 1932 and after a spell on loan in French football with Paris based Club Francais, he returned to Loftus Road, making his Football League debut at Millwall in November 1934. Although he only made 4 appearances in his breakthrobartlett-fred-image-1-clapton-orient-1937ugh season he was a near permanent fixture in Rangers’ line up in 1935-36, making 40 appearances during the campaign but lost his place in The R’s line-up in September 1936 and played only once more for them before signing for Clapton Orient in May 1937 after 51 appearances for QPR.

At Orient he enjoyed regular football in the final two seasons before the outbreak of the Second World War forced the abandonment of peacetime football in September 1939, and missed only 3 matches in 1938-39, and after the War, during which Bartlett arguably lost his best years, he returned to Brisbane Road, already in his early-mid 30’s, playing in both their 1946 FA Cup campaign and as a regular in their 1946-47 League campaign, when he made 37 appearances. In the summer of 1947 Clapton Orient’s name was changed to Leyton Orient, the club having moved to Brisbane Road from their previous Clapton based Millfields Road stadium in 1937, and Bartlett played his final match for Orient under the Leyton Orient club name, in a defeat at Port Vale in January 1948, his only appearance of the season and his 104th match for Orient both sides of the War, after which he joined Southern League club Gloucester City in the 1948 close season, his final club before his eventual retirement.