Ireland was born in Coventry[1] and, after leaving school, worked as a coal-miner at nearby Kingsbury Colliery[2] where he was spotted by scouts from Southampton, joining the Southern League club in the summer of 1911.
Although he also played in the following match, a 5–0 defeat by Brighton, Ireland spent the rest of the season in the reserves until returning to the first-team on 23 March 1912 in place of Robertson (who had been sold to Rangers), with manager George Swift attempting to improve the performances of a side which had won only once in the previous ten games.
Southampton defeated Luton Town and followed this with a victory over Plymouth Argyle and Ireland retained his place for the rest of the season which ended with the Saints three points above the relegation zone.
[2] In the 1914–15 season, when Ireland missed only three matches, Southampton began to show signs of improvement, finishing sixth in the table,[5] before the First World War caused the suspension of normal football for four years.
[2] Although he played for Southampton in a Victory Cup match against Boscombe in February 1919,[6] Ireland moved on to join Merthyr Town in the summer of 1919 for their final season in the Southern League, in what the "Athletics News" described as "an outstanding capture".