In the 2009–10 season, he helped West Bromwich Albion gain promotion to the Premier League and was named in the Championship Team of the Year in the process.

Dorrans came from the Barlanark area of Glasgow[5] and spent a period of his youth training with Scottish Premier League club Rangers.

[8] He made his debut in the English Premier League for West Bromwich Albion on 21 December 2008, coming on as a second-half substitute against Manchester City.

The 2009–10 season saw Dorrans break into the West Brom team and his performances led to reported interest from several Premier League clubs.

In The Guardian on 20 March 2010, he was described as, "Composed, creative, combative, and consistent, Dorrans is easily the best all-round midfielder seen at West Brom since Bryan Robson.

[17] Despite this, he played more under new head coach Pepe Mel, leading to Dorrans signing a three-year contract with West Brom in July 2014.

[19] The move was made permanent on 27 May 2015, just a few days after Dorrans helped the side win promotion to the Premier League, via the Playoff Final.

[20] On 6 July 2017, Dorrans moved from Norwich City to Rangers on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £1.3 million.

[25] In November 2020, Dorrans enacted a clause in his new contract, allowing him to leave by mutual consent to join another team overseas.

He scored his first goal for the club with a 40-meter lob on Adam Federici who was playing high up the pitch as a sweeper keeper following a Macarthur FC corner.

[27][28] Following his release from Western Sydney Wanderers, Dorrans returned to Scotland in July 2021 to sign with Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic on a two-year deal.

[31] After nearly a full season away from playing, Dorrans signed for West of Scotland Football League First Division club Johnstone Burgh on 2 May 2023.

Dorrans made his home debut for Scotland on 3 March 2010 in a 1–0 victory over the Czech Republic, earning the sponsor's Man of the Match award.