[6] Irving began his playing career in the North-East of England, appearing for non-League clubs Shildon Athletic, Galashiels United and Esh Winning.
[2] After the First World War, Irving had spells playing for Blyth Spartans and with his first club Shildon Athletic before signing for Dundee in 1920.
[7][8] Irving quickly impressed during the club's pre-season and debuted for the first team on the opening day of the 1920–21 season in a 2–2 draw away at Falkirk on 16 August.
After receiving the ball, he advanced to the penalty area before shooting past the opposition goalkeeper, with the Dundee Evening Telegraph describing it as a "great goal".
[16] These early performances led to him being considered for his first selection for the Ireland national football team,[17] but he was denied a call up due to injury.
[19] The following year, Dundee were unable to repeat their top four finishes and fell to seventh place before undertaking a tour of Spain at the end of the campaign.
[21] He returned to the first team in September but suffered further injury problems after playing for Ireland against England in October that saw him rarely feature in the following months.
[23] However, Irving continued to be plagued by knee problems; he was stretchered off in matches against both St Mirren on 30 March and Clydebank on 19 April.
Despite the defeat, Irving was praised for his performance in the match with the Dundee Courier remarking that he had "held the Celts' forwards as in a vice".
[36] His early months were disrupted by a knee injury sustained after slipping down steps at a team hotel before a game against Bury and an infected finger that caused him to miss several matches in November.
He also played in all six of the club's matches en route to reaching the 1927 FA Cup Final and was instrumental in his side's 3–2 victory over Chelsea in a sixth round replay, scoring one and assisting Len Davies for another.
[36] Irving remained a first team regular the following season and played in Cardiff's 2–1 victory over Corinthians in the 1927 FA Charity Shield on 12 October.
He initially agreed to join Scottish Division Two side Brechin City in August 1934 but later backed out of the deal after deciding to retire from playing.
[54] Irving first attracted the attention of selectors for the Irish national side in 1921 after his first season with Dundee, but was not called up after struggling with injury.
[5][55] He eventually made his debut for the side in March 1923 against Scotland and played in the remaining two matches of the 1922–23 British Home Championship.
[2] Their victory over England October 1923 was the first time they had defeated the opposition since 1914,[56] with Irving being described as "a big factor" in the win by The Sunday Post.
[58] In October 1925, Irving was selected to captain the Irish side for the first time, but withdrew from the squad when Dundee refused to release him for international duty.
[63] The pair led the side to 9th place in the Scottish First Division but stepped down from the manager's role after a year, remaining with the club as a director.
The Western Mail wrote that, although not as accomplished on the defensive side of the game as other leading backs, he was especially skilled at "creating openings for the forwards" and always "placed (his passing) perfectly".
[66] During his career, Irving played at inside right on numerous occasions when required, but was often deemed to be simply adequate cover in the position rather than a natural.