John Bartley (footballer)

John Reginald Bartley (born 15 September 1958) is an English former professional footballer who played in the English Football League as a forward. He was a prolific scorer, scoring over 500 goals for Welling United.

Career
Bartley began his career with Welling United, where he played as a youth. For the under-18s, he scored 64 goals in 40 games. He debuted for the first team in the 1974-75 season in the Athenian League and continued to play for both the senior and youth teams the following season. For both teams in 1975-76, he scored 113 goals. For the next five seasons, his average scoring remained over a goal per game. For Welling, he scored 450 goals in 326 appearances.

Thanks to his prolific goalscoring, Bartley signed for Second Division Millwall for £12,000 in 1980, but failed to score consistently. After a brief spell in Finland, he then joined Maidstone United in the Alliance Premier League for around £5,000. With Maidstone, he finished second and then won the league in 1983-84.

Bartley returned to Welling in 1984-85 for a club record fee of £8,000 and won the championship in 1985-86, scoring 60 goals in 58 appearances, 57 of those goals in 55 league appearances. He left Welling after a disagreement and returned to Maidstone. Bartley then played for Chelmsford City in the Southern League. After their relegation, Bartley moved to Dartford for £6,000. He finished his career at Alma Swanley in the Kent League, scoring 86 goals in 86 games. Bartley scored around 770 goals and 100 hattricks throughout his career.