Sam Weller Widdowson (16 April 1851 – 9 May 1927) was an English sportsman of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...

. He played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and also played once for the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliat ...

, against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

in 1880. Widdowson is also credited with inventing football shin pads in 1874 when he cut down a pair of

pads and strapped them outside his stockings. Initially, the concept was ridiculed but it soon caught on with other players, and shin pads are now required by the Laws of the Game. He later became a football

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

and was in charge of the first ever match in which goal nets were used. He was

chairman from 1879 to 1884.

References

1851 births 1927 deaths People from Hucknall Footballers from Nottinghamshire Cricketers from Nottinghamshire English footballers English cricketers Nottingham Forest F.C. players England international footballers Nottinghamshire cricketers English football referees Association footballers not categorized by position {{england-footy-forward-1850s-stub