James Leslie Bartram (8 March 1911 – 1987) was an English footballer who played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for clubs including Portsmouth, North Shields,

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, Northampton Town and Queen of the South plus a brief spell with Morton during World War II. His time at Falkirk was prolific in terms of scoring, making good use of his strong physique (which combined with his surname gave rise to a nickname of "Battering-Ram")Forgotten Heroes - James Bartram
Falkirk Football Historian, 10 June 2013 to claim 67 goals in 73

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

and Scottish Cup matches, leading to a transfer to Northampton for a club record fee of £1,000 in June 1935; however, by December of the same year he had been moved on to Queen of the South, where he only played for the

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

club in the league until the end of that same season, though remained contracted to them until the outbreak of the war. He went back to North East of England and signed 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 ...

in July 1936. He was the uncle of

Sam Bartram Samuel Bartram (22 January 1914 – 17 July 1981) was an English professional footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper and holds the record for most appearances for Charlton Athletic, his only club at the professional level. Career ...

, the long-serving goalkeeper for Charlton Athletic.

References

1911 births 1987 deaths Footballers from South Shields English footballers Association football forwards Portsmouth F.C. players North Shields F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1910s-stub