Neal Bartlett showed extreme promise during the early stages of the 1993-94 season and, having just turned 18, was a player regarded highly by Ian Branfoot.

Unfortunately, Branfoot’s departure coincided with Neil’s career falling apart as he found the pressures of football too much. He failed to turn up for training one day and moved house without leaving an address which meant the club were unable to contact him. Interviewed by the Football Echo’s Graham Hiley, a few months later, he explained “I took time out to try and spot the problem and do something about it and it turned into a permanent vacation. As a person I could not meet the needs of professional football and sustain it. I could not handle football running my life – and it does totally. You eat, sleep and breathe it and I found that hard to take. I love the game but I could not balance it with the way I wanted to live my life”.

There were rumours that Branfoot tried to entice him to Fulham but he chose to sign on for Fareham with a clause in his contract that they would release him if a professional club offered him a way back into the game and he was of a mind to accept it but nothing materialised. Following a spell in Sweden his League career showed signs of flickering back into life when Swansea showed an interest, but it was not to be.

In March 1999, Neal turned his back on professional football and, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, enlisted in the Army with the Princess of Wales Regiment. In the summer of 2002, Private Bartlett, after showing good form playing for Bath C and the Combined Services, was approached by Port Vale, but declined to resurrect his former career to remain a soldier. Based at Catterick Garrison he became player-manager for Shildon AFC and then stationed in Northern Ireland, turned out for clubs in County Antrim and Derry. He has since left the Army and is believed to be working in Sales. Back in 1994, he had concluded that interview with Hiley by saying “the trappings of success do not matter to me and if people can’t understand that then that is their problem not mine”.