William Widdington

William Widdington was an English footballer who played as a forward for Stade Helvétique de Marseille in the early 1910s.

Career At some point between 1904 and 1907, Widdington joined the ranks of Stade Helvétique, a sports club made up of Swiss and English immigrants. On 27 December 1908, he started in the decisive match of the 1908–09 Littoral Championship against city rivals Olympique Marseille, scoring once to seal a 4–1 victory.

Together with the Scheibenstock brothers (Andreas, Charley, Henri, and René) and the Hattenschwyler brothers (Henri and Albert), Widdington played a crucial role in the Helvétique team that won six consecutive Littoral championships from 1909 to 1914, which qualified the club for the USFSA national championship, where it reached four finals and won three titles in 1909, 1911, and 1913, thus becoming Marseille's flagship club in the early 1910s. The following day, the journalists of the French newspaper L'Auto (currently known as L'Équipe) described him as "an excellent dribbler and good shooter".

On 27 April 1913, Widdington started in the USFSA national final in Rouen, helping his side to a 1–0 win over FC Rouen despite "placing a magnificent shot which grazes the post" and having an header narrowly saved by Maurice Cousinard. The following the journalists of L'Auto described him as the team's best forward, "who knows how to get rid of the ball at the right time; he lacks a shot without which he would be perfect.

Death Widdington was killed in World War I.

Honours SH de Marseille Littoral Championship: Champions (6): 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, and 1914

USFSA Football Championship: Champions (2): 1911, and 1913 Runner-up (1): 1910