During his playing career, Bartlett started out as a youngster in AFC Bournemouth’s academy before moving on to David Hockaday’s Cirencester Town Academy in the summer of 1995 at the age of 16.
Having been in and around Cirencester’s first team for a few seasons, Bartlett moved on to Salisbury City in February 2000. In nine years, he played over 400 times for the Whites with a title win in the Southern Premier and a playoff win in the Conference South.
Upon his release from the Raymond McEnhill Stadium in March 2009, he signed for Weston, where he captained the side for a short spell. During his time in BS24, Bartlett made 40 appearances for the club and was an unused substitute twice, assisting three goals from his usual position of defence or midfield.
He then moved across North Somerset to Bath City in February 2010. He managed four starts, as well as six substitute appearances, as his spell with the Romans was hampered by a shoulder injury.
In the summer of 2010, he joined Conference side Forest Green Rovers and made 11 appearances across the 2010-2011 season before being forced to hang up his boots in August 2011 due to a knee injury.
Bartlett then moved into coaching with the Forest Green Rovers Academy, becoming their Head of Academy and raising the academy level to ‘category three’ before his departure from The New Lawn.
Scott looked after the Forest Green Rovers first-team on a caretaker basis across two separate spells in 2013 and 2016, managing four wins, one draw and one loss across both spells as he took FGR to the Conference playoff final in 2016.
In October 2016, Bartlett got his first permanent taste of first-team managerial experience by joining the Seagulls.
In the eight months that followed, Scott reshaped the squad and ensured National League South safety, with his side scoring an impressive 66 goals along the way, drawing a blank just once.
Bartlett was adept in the transfer market, signing current Bristol Rovers centre-back Rollin Menayese as well as adding to the midfield depth by signing the likes of Cardiff City U23’s midfielder Lloyd Humphries and current Hereford FC midfielder Theo Wharton on loan, as well as signing Danny Greenslade on loan and then bringing him in on a permanent deal just before he left in June 2017 as he took up a full-time role with FGR.
In May 2019, Bartlett left Forest Green in order to pursue a first-team managerial career, and he quickly joined the Seagulls on a three-year deal for their Southern Premier Division South campaign.