Sam Weller Widdowson

Sam Weller Widdowson (16 April 1851 ) was an English sportsman of the Victorian era. He played cricket for Nottinghamshire 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, and shin pads are now required by the Laws of the Game. He later became a football referee and was in charge of the first ever match in which goal nets were used.