FORMER Newport County player, cricketer and umpire Barrie Meyer has died in South Africa aged 83.

Mr Meyer was a professional footballer and cricket player before becoming a high profile umpire for 15 years.

Mr Meyer, who died on Sunday, played cricket for Gloucestershire and football for Bristol Rovers, Bristol City, Plymouth Argyle and Hereford United as well as County.

Born in Bournemouth in 1932, he played football for Bristol Rovers in 139 league matches, scoring 60 goals, before moving to Plymouth and then on to Somerton Park for £4,000 in February 1959.

Before leaving for Bristol City in September 1961 for £850 the inside forward scored 30 goals in 78 appearances for the Ironsides.

Mr Meyer played for Gloucestershire CCC in 406 first-class cricket matches from 1957 to 1971.

He took 707 catches and 119 stumpings, but was a relatively poor batsman – his career first-class batting average was only 14.19, with a highest score of 63.

When he retired, he became a cricket umpire, taking charge of 26 Tests in England from 1978 to 1993 –including the famous 1981 Ashes Test at Headingley.

He also umpired 23 One Day Internationals from 1977 to 1993, including the Cricket World Cup finals at Lord's in 1979 and 1983.

Meyer holds the accolade of being the only footballer in history to score a goal against Manchester United in the FA Cup and go on to become a Test match umpire.

He scored in Bristol Rovers' 4-0 win over Manchester United in the third round of the cup at Eastville in January 1956, which was United's ninth biggest defeat in FA Cup history.

In 2006 he published an autobiography, Getting It Right, co-authored with Andrew Hignell.