Sam Weller Widdowson (16 April 1851^[1] – 9 May 1927^[2]) was an English sportsman of the Victorian era. He played cricket for Nottinghamshire^[3] and association football for Nottingham Forest and also played once for the England national football team, against Scotland in 1880.^[1] Widdowson is also credited with inventing football shin pads in 1874 when he cut down a pair of cricket pads and strapped them outside his stockings. Initially, the concept was ridiculed but it soon caught on with other players,^[3] and shin pads are now required by the Laws of the Game.^[4] He later became a football referee and was in charge of the first ever match in which goal nets were used.^[3] He was Nottingham Forest chairman from 1879 to 1884.^[5]