[3] He played for home-town club Queen of the South Wanderers for two years before moving to England to join Lincoln City.
In the 1890–91 season, Irving was the club's leading scorer, with 12 goals from Football Alliance and FA Cup games.
[1] He is believed to have been the first Lincoln player to be sent off in a Football League match: in November 1894, he and Grimsby Town's Tom Frith were dismissed for fighting.
[5] After losing his first-team place, Irving moved on in February 1895 to Newark Town in the Midland League before returning to Lincoln City a few months later.
[3] His last game for their first team came in the Football League Second Division, a 3–0 defeat to Loughborough on 6 March 1897,[1] and he retired as a player later that year.