Andrew Irving (born 13 May 2000) is a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and the Scotland national team. He has previously played for Heart of Midlothian,

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, who play in the Scottish football system. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite being ba ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

Türkgücü München Türkgücü München () is a German association football club from Munich, Bavaria. The club, which is based in the Turkish community of Munich, was formed in 2009 in a merger of Türkischer SV 1975 München and ATA Spor München. Türkischer S ...

and

Austria Klagenfurt Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, of which the capital Vienna is the most populous city and state. Austria is bordered by Ger ...

Early life

Irving grew up in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and attended

Portobello High School Portobello High School is a large secondary school in Portobello, Edinburgh, Portobello in the east of Edinburgh. With over 1400 pupils it is one of the largest state schools in Edinburgh and Scotland. The current headteacher, as of 2024, is Greg ...

.Andy Irving, the 'Portobello Pirlo', gives Scotland hope of a better future
Ewan Murray, ''The Scotsman'', 11 October 2024

Club career

Heart of Midlothian

In June 2017, while a member of the Heart of Midlothian Under-20 team, Irving joined

on loan until January 2018. He made 24 appearances for Berwick in all competitions, scoring twice. Upon his return to Hearts he made his first team debut on 24 January 2018, playing from the start in a 3–0 victory against

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

New Douglas Park New Douglas Park, also known as ZLX Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which serves as the home of Scottish League Two side Clyde, also formerly being home to Scottish League One sid ...

. In July 2018, Irving signed a new contract, extending his stay at the club until 2020. Irving made his first appearance of the 2018–19 season as a 65th-minute substitute for

Olly Lee Oliver Robert Lee (born 11 July 1991) is an English former professional footballer and coach who played as a midfielder. He is currently Under 21's Coach at Norwich City. Lee started his career as a youth player with West Ham United, with whom ...

in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

tie with Cove Rangers. However, his contract extension had not been correctly lodged with the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

, rendering him ineligible to play as his registration had expired on 9 June. An

SPFL The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As well ...

disciplinary hearing took place on 23 July, as a result of which Hearts were deducted two points from the group stages and fined £10,000, with £8,000 of the fine suspended until the end of the next season. On 31 July 2018, Irving was loaned to

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

side

until January 2019.

Türkgücü München

In June 2021, Irving signed for

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

side

after the expiration of his contract at Hearts. On 25 July 2021, Irving made his debut for Türkgücü München in the 3. Liga, coming off the bench in a 0–0 draw against

SC Verl SC Verl is a German association football club based in Verl, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded on 6 September 1924, and since 1970 has consistently played in the higher echelons of amateur football. The club was promoted to the profe ...

away from home.

Austria Klagenfurt

In July 2022, Irving signed for

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

outfit

, after financial problems at Türkgücü München forced the club to resign from the 3. Liga in March 2022. Irving was sold to

on transfer deadline day in September 2023, but was immediately loaned back to Austria Klagenfurt. Despite neither club confirming the transfer at the time, this was eventually done by Austria Klagenfurt managing director Günther Gorenzel in December 2023. On 24 April 2024, Irving scored a 22-minute

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against league leaders Red Bull Salzburg in a 4–3 win for Austria Klagenfurt.

West Ham United

He made his

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

debut for West Ham United in September 2024, in a London derby against Chelsea which ended in a 3–0 defeat.Irving It's every boy's dream to play for their country!
West Ham United FC, 3 October 2024 He made his first Premier League start for West Ham United in February 2025, once again against Chelsea, ending in a 2–1 defeat.

International career

Irving has represented Scotland at under-14, under-16, under-17, under-19, under-21 and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

level. He received a first senior international call-up on 1 October 2024, for Scotland's Nations League fixtures with

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. He made his international debut on 9 June 2025 in a friendly game against Liechtenstein at Rheinparkstadion in

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

. Irving replaced

John McGinn John McGinn (born 18 October 1994) is a Scottish association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, whom he Captain (association football), captains, and the Scotland national football team, Scot ...

with 31 minutes remaining in a game which Scotland won 4–0.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Profile
at the West Ham United F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Andy 2000 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Berwick Rangers F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Türkgücü München players SK Austria Klagenfurt (2007) players West Ham United F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players 3. Liga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Premier League players Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Austria People educated at Portobello High School 21st-century Scottish sportsmen Scotland men's international footballers