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  • 2019-12-27 (xsd:date)
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  • Is This Soccer Goalkeeper 'Lost in the Fog'? (en)
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  • A popular anecdote about a goalie who remained on the field long after a soccer match was canceled due to heavy fog is frequently shared online, along with a picture purportedly showing the confused but dedicated goalkeeper: The meme reads: In 1937, a soccer match was interrupted due to fog. But a goalkeeper stood in the fog for 15 minutes without knowing it. The anecdote recounted in this viral meme refers to a genuine incident which took place during a soccer match in 1937. This photograph seen here, however, was snapped decades later and pictures a different goalkeeper. This meme refers to an incident from a Christmas Day match in 1937 between the Charlton Athletic and Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge stadium in London, England. Sam Bartram, the Athletic's goalkeeper, was at his post when a heavy fog rolled across the pitch, a fog so dense that the match was called off. The players and referees all made their way off the field, but nobody told Bartram, who remained at his position for about 15 minutes, peering through the fog and waiting for the opponent's attack until a police officer found him and ushered him off the field. Bartram recounted the incident in his autobiography, quoted below in an article published by ESPN: Although it wouldn't be uncommon for this sort of sports story to grow exaggerated over the years, we found contemporaneous articles from 1937 that backed up Bartram's account. For example, on Dec. 27, 1937, the Associated Press published this snippet about the foggy Christmas day game: While this viral meme recounts a genuine sports story, the image that frequently accompanies the anecdote shows a different goalkeeper from a different foggy game: the photograph seen here actually shows Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Kelsey during a foggy match in 1954. While that game was also canceled due to fog, Kelsey was not left out on the pitch to defend against a departed opponent. The image is available via PA Images along with the caption Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Kelsey peers into the fog, searching for the elusive ball. The fog was so thick the game was eventually stopped. (en)
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