Early career Bartlett was born in
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. He trained with the senior team and was a standby for a
UEFA Champions League match against
Inter Milan in March 2003. He was also an Academy goalkeeping coach at the club. He was released, aged 19, in 2005. He signed a new one-year contract in August 2007. He was named as Blyth's Player of the Season for the 2007–08 season. Bartlett's impressive performances at Blyth Spartans led to an
England C call up and upon his departure from the club he was inducted into Blyth Spartans' Hall of Fame. During his final year at Blyth, he made six appearances for the
England national C team.
Kidderminster Harriers and Hereford United Bartlett signed for
Conference Premier club
Kidderminster Harriers on 27 May 2008 on a one-year contract. He was an ever-present in the 2008–09 Conference Premier. He was named as the Conference Premier Goalkeeper of the Year for 2008–09. On 22 June 2009, Bartlett signed for
League Two club
Hereford United. He helped Hereford upset League One team
Charlton Athletic in the
League Cup first round on 11 August 2009, in which he saved a
penalty from Charlton's
Andy Gray in the 62nd minute. In March 2010, he extended his Hereford contract for a further year. Bartlett was Hereford's only ever-present player in
2009–10, and was named the club's Player of the Year.
Gateshead and Hartlepool United in 2015 Bartlett signed for Conference Premier club
Gateshead on 8 June 2012. He made his debut on 11 August 2012 in a 2–2 away draw with
Luton Town. Bartlett started for Gateshead as they were beaten 2–1 at Wembley Stadium by Cambridge United in the
2014 Conference Premier play-off final. At the end of 2014–15, Bartlett was released by Gateshead. Bartlett signed for League Two club
Hartlepool United on 10 July 2015. He made his debut on 8 August 2015, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 home victory over
Morecambe. He was often back-up to
Trevor Carson but regained the number-one spot in
2016–17 when an injury ruled out Carson for the rest of the season. However, he later lost his place to
Middlesbrough loanee
Joe Fryer.
Darlington and York City Bartlett had his Hartlepool contract cancelled by mutual consent on 21 March 2017 to take up a full-time role as an academy goalkeeping coach at Middlesbrough and moved into part-time football, signing for
National League North club
Darlington the following day. However, Darlington were denied entry to the play-offs because their Blackwell Meadows ground did not meet seating requirements. In October 2017, Bartlett turned down the opportunity to sign for Darlington's National League North rivals
York City, as he wanted to stay part-time. York had recently appointed
Martin Gray as manager, who Bartlett played under at Darlington. He eventually signed for York on 7 November 2017 for an undisclosed fee on a contract until June 2019. He left York in May 2019 to pursue a career in sales with sporting goods manufacturers Core 37 and play part-time football for
Whickham of the
Northern League Division One. ==Coaching career==