When Widdowson was born, (between 1 January and 31 March 1862) Hucknall was an industrial centre just to the North of the City of Nottingham.
Apparently, Widdowson appeared to be a late developer in football terms as he was not signed by Nottingham Forest until 1887, when he was past his 25th Birthday.
The weather was terrible, heavy rainfall, and Notts County had prioritized a FA Cup tie so the League team was described as a "scratch" side.
Widdowson had parried a powerful shot from Villa forward, Archie Hunter, but he couldn't hold the ball which fell to Brown who scored.
Goodall latched onto a shot by fellow forward, Tommy Green and swept the ball past Widdowson.
Tommy Green restored Villa' lead and Archie Goodall made sure of the two points with his second goal in the match.
He became ever-present from his debut so, from 8 December 1888 until the final game of the season, 16 March 1889 Widdowson played 12 times in goal in League matches and twice in FA Cup ties.
In 1898 now aged 36, he left Forest and joined Kimberley Town Football Club who competed in the FA Cup.