Career
An Irish amateur international, Irwin began his career at where he was managed by Charlie Tully. Prior to his death Tully had recommended Irwin to his former club Celtic but the move never materialised and he eventually joined Welsh side in 1971. He also became the first Cardiff goalkeeper to be sent off during a match after receiving his marching orders against City during the 1972-1973 Welsh Cup final.
Irwin held the position of first choice goalkeeper for four seasons, beating off competition from Parsons and Jim Eadie, until the arrival of Ron Healey in 1974 saw him lose his place.
He eventually left the club in 1978 and went to play for the Washington Diplomats in the NASL. He went on to play at various teams in the NASL before finishing his career with two years playing indoor football in the Major Indoor Soccer League. After his retirement Irwin took up an assistant manager role at the University of Portland alongside former Cardiff teammate Clive Charles.
During his time at the University he has an impressive record of training goalkeepers. The five starting goalkeepers who have trained under Irwin, Greg Maas, Kasey Keller, Stuart Dobson, Scott Hileman, Curtis Spiteri and most recently Luis Robles, have all gone on to play professional football.
Following the sudden death of Charles in 2003 Irwin was promoted to headcoach after serving as his assistant for sixteen years.
Irwin has been involved with goalkeeper coaching throughout the United States women"s teams and various youth levels of the men"s team and in he was appointed as head coach of the United States under-23 women"s team, winning the Nordic Cup in his first year. Player Manager.