As a player he was a goalkeeper and he most notably played in the Premier League for Arsenal, where he was understudy to David Seaman throughout the majority of his time at Highbury.
Bartram made his first team debut on 23 August 1986 in a 2–1 home defeat to Cambridge United, which marked the club's first-ever game in the fourth tier of English football.
[2] Instead, Bartram had loan spells with Blackpool, Cheltenham Town and West Bromwich Albion, before finally leaving Molineux for AFC Bournemouth in July 1991 for £35,000.
He firmly established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper at Priestfield Stadium and helped them to the Division Two play-off final in his first full season, where they lost out to Manchester City on penalties.
The following season saw them go one step further as they beat Wigan Athletic in the play-off final to reach the second tier for the first time in the club's history.