Ernest Edward Alfred Bertram (30 June 1881 – 3 November 1942) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

as a

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in the 1903–04 season. He also played

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

(renamed from South Shields Adelaide in 1910) and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Life and career

Bertram was born in 1881 at Dissington, near

Stamfordham Stamfordham is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 Census was 1,047, rising to 1,185 at the 2011 Census. The place-name ''Stamfordham'' is first attested in the Pipe Rolls for ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. He was a younger son of James Bertram, a coachman in service at

Dissington Hall Dissington Hall is a privately owned country mansion situated on the banks of the River Pont at North Dissington, Ponteland, Northumberland, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. The manor of North Dissington was for centuries the seat of ...

, and his wife, Isabella. The 1901 Census lists him as a merchant's clerk living with his widowed mother in Newcastle. Bertram played local football for teams including South Shields Adelaide before joining

for a pre-season trial in August 1903. He impressed enough to be kept on, played regularly for the "A" team in the Northern League, and was considered promising. He made his first-team debut, which was to be his only

appearance, on 5 March 1904 away to Small Heath in the First Division. In a reshuffled

half-back line In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-back ...

William Fullarton Colonel William Fullarton of Fullarton (12 January 1754 – 13 February 1808) was a Scottish soldier, statesman, agriculturalist and author. He sat in the House of Commons between 1779 and 1803. Early life He was born on 12 January 1754 the on ...

replaced

Alex Barrie Alexander W. Barrie (18 August 1878 – 1 October 1918) was a Scottish professional footballer who played in the Scottish League for Kilmarnock, Rangers and St Bernard's as a centre half. He also played in the Football League for Sunderland a ...

at centre half while Bertram stood in for Dicky Jackson at

, and Sunderland lost 2–1. He finished the season with the A team, and his services were retained for the next two seasons, but not for the first team. Bertram played for South Shields, and continued his career with Northern League club

. He played in all four of their matches in the

1907–08 FA Cup The 1907–08 FA Cup was the 37th staging of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Wolverhampton Wanderers won the competition for the second time, beating ...

, scored in two, and signed on for the following season in the North-Eastern League, when he remained a regular in the team and again played in all their FA Cup ties. In July 1909, he married Ada, the eldest daughter of James Lunn, Newcastle City Councillor and chairman of

Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, at Brunswick Wesleyan Chapel. In October, he resumed his football career with South Shields Adelaide, finished the season with a runners-up medal in the

Durham Senior Cup The Durham County Challenge Cup (commonly known as the Durham Challenge Cup) is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for the ...

, and vice-captained the side in 1910–11. He was by this time employed as a commercial clerk and living with Ada in a large house in

Monkseaton Monkseaton is an area of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, in the North East of England. Historically in Northumberland, it is in the north-east of the borough, from the North Sea coast and north of the River Tyne at North Shields. to the north of ...

. The 1939 Register finds him working as an electricity supply salesman, living with Ada and two adult children at the same address, where he died three years later at the age of 61.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertram, Ernest 1881 births 1942 deaths Footballers from Northumberland English footballers Association football wing halves South Shields F.C. (1889) players Sunderland A.F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Northern Football League players English Football League players People from Stamfordham