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Ted Widdowfield

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Ted Widdowfield
Personal information
Full name Edward Widdowfield
Date of birth (1915-03-25)25 March 1915[1]
Place of birth Hetton-le-Hole, England
Date of death 8 November 1983(1983-11-08) (aged 68)[1]
Place of death Newark-on-Trent,[1] England
Height 5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (1.79 m)[1]
Position(s) Outside right, centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Hetton Lyons Welfare
1933–1934 Bishop Auckland
1933–1935 Birtley
1935–1936 Huddersfield Town 5 (0)
1936–1946 Halifax Town 83 (37)
1946–1948 Ransome & Marles
1949–1950 Peterborough United 46 (20)
1950–195? Ransome & Marles
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Edward Widdowfield (25 March 1915 – 8 November 1983) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Huddersfield Town and Halifax Town. An outside right who became a centre forward, he also played non-league football for Hetton Lyons Welfare, Bishop Auckland, Birtley, Ransome & Marles and Peterborough United.

Life and career

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Widdowfield was born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, in 1915,[1] a son of James Widdowfield, coal miner and local councillor, and his wife, Phillis née Pearson.[2][3] In his teenage years, he engaged in pedestrianism – professional sprinting – as well as playing football for his local team, Hetton Lyons Welfare, Bishop Auckland and Birtley. His goalscoring from the outside-right position earned him offers of trials with clubs including Birmingham, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Hartlepools United, and in October 1935, he signed for Huddersfield Town of the Football League First Division.[3][4]

Widdowfield made his Football League debut on 2 November at home to Chelsea, replacing Tommy Lang.[5] Huddersfield won 2–0, and Widdowfield kept his place for the next three matches. Although the Leeds Mercury wrote that he "showed great promise in his few senior side games", he played only once more for the first team in the next twelve months, and moved on to Halifax Town of the Third Division North in November 1936.[6][7]

Halifax Town's manager, Jimmy Thomson, had brought in Widdowfield for his pace and crossing ability, and he played regularly at outside right for his first few months at the club.[1] He lost his place early in the 1937–38 season, and was put on the transfer list at his own request.[8] No move ensued, and in January 1938, Thomson tried Widdowfield at centre forward, a position that had been problematic since top scorer Albert Valentine had left six months earlier.[1] In his 61 league matches before the Second World War brought an end to competitive football, he scored 34 goals, including all four as Halifax came back from 3–0 down to Accrington Stanley to win 4–3, and was the club's top scorer in both pre-war seasons[6][9]

Widdowfield married Isabella Stabler in 1935.[10] The 1939 Register lists him as a carpenter and footballer living in Chevinedge Crescent, Halifax, with his wife and child.[11] He served with the Halifax police during the Second World War before joining the Royal Air Force in 1941.[1] When other duties permitted, he played football for Halifax Town in the wartime competitions and made one appearance in the first post-war edition of the FA Cup,[6] before leaving for the Newark, Nottinghamshire, area where he had settled. He played Midland League football for Ransome & Marles,[1][12] and spent the 1949–50 season with Peterborough United, scoring 20 goals from 45 Midland League matches,[13] before returning to Ransome & Marles, who had by then left the Midland League for the Central Alliance.[14]

Widdowfield remained in the Newark area, where he died in 1983 at the age of 68.[1]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[6]
Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Huddersfield Town 1935–36 First Division 5 0 0 0 — 5 0
1936–37 First Division 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 5 0 0 0 — 5 0
Halifax Town 1936–37 Third Division North 18 3 1 0 — 19 3
1937–38 Third Division North 25 11 0 0 1[a] 0 26 11
1938–39 Third Division North 40 23 6 6 — 46 29
1945–46 Third Division North — 1 0 — 1 0
Total 83 37 8 6 1 0 92 43
Peterborough United 1949–50[15] Midland League 46 20 3 4 — 49 24
Career total 134 57 11 10 1 0 146 67
  1. ^ Appearance in Third Division North Cup

References

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General

  • Meynell, Johnny (2011). Halifax Town The Complete Record 1911–2011. Derby Books. ISBN 978-1-78091-321-6.
  • Thomas, Ian; Thomas, Owen; Hodgson, Alan; Ward, John (2007). 99 Years and Counting: Stats and Stories. Huddersfield Town A.F.C. ISBN 978-0955728105.

Specific

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Meynell (2011), pp. 343–344
  2. ^ "James Widdowfield". 1911 England Census. RG14/30074 – via Ancestry Library Edition.
    "James Widdowfield". England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837–2005. Retrieved 13 July 2020 – via FamilySearch.
    "Index entry". FreeBMD. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b Argus (7 June 1934). "Under the Searchlight. Trial offers". Sunderland Echo. p. 9.
  4. ^ "Signed for Huddersfield". Sunderland Echo. 16 October 1935. p. 11.
  5. ^ "Widdowfield's debut for 'Town'". Leeds Mercury. 2 November 1935. p. 11.
  6. ^ a b c d "Player search: Widdowfield, E (Ted)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Bradford improving". Leeds Mercury. 14 November 1936. p. 9.
  8. ^ "Shay man for transfer". Leeds Mercury. 15 October 1937. p. 11.
  9. ^ Meynell (2011), p. 41.
  10. ^ "Edward Widdowfield". England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837–2005. Retrieved 14 July 2020 – via FamilySearch.
  11. ^ "Edward Widdowfield". 1939 England and Wales Register. RG101/3402H KEOR – via Ancestry Library Edition.
  12. ^ "1947/48". ilsonfootball. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Posh Stars of the Midland League (Part 2 – M to Z)". The Posh Supporters' Trust. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  14. ^ "1950/51". ilsonfootball. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Ted Widdowfield: matches for Peterborough". Up The Posh. Chris Wilkinson. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
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