Irvine played as a winger for Queen's Park, Everton, Crystal Palace, Dundee United and Blackburn Rovers.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Irvine studied for qualification as an insurance broker whilst playing for Queen's Park.

Irvine is a boyhood Leeds United fan, citing fellow Scot Eddie Gray as his favourite player.

[3] After Queen's Park, Irvine went on to play for Everton, Crystal Palace, Dundee United and Blackburn Rovers.

He was academy director at Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United, where he was credited with bringing through players such as Steven Taylor and Peter Ramage.

Following the successful takeover by Milan Mandarić at the end of 2010, Irvine was allowed transfer funds to revamp his squad.

[13] It was announced on 12 July 2011 that Irvine had returned to Everton to replace Ray Hall as the manager of the club's academy.

[14] On 14 June 2014 West Bromwich Albion announced that Irvine would fill their vacant head coach role on a 12-month rolling contract,[15] his first management work in the Premier League.

[18] Irvine's time in charge also saw West Bromwich Albion forward Saido Berahino called into the senior England team after scoring seven goals in ten league matches.

[27] Irvine was replaced by Billy McKinlay as West Ham United's assistant manager in May 2021 and switched to a technical advisory role.