Background
Irving was born in Dumfries in 1867.
Irving was born in Dumfries in 1867.
He played for home-town club Queen of the South Wanderers for two years before moving to England to join Lincoln City. He made his debut on 5 November 1889 in the Midland League, and played for the club until the 1894-1895 season, their second in the Football League. 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.
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.
His last game for their first team came in the Football League Second Division, a 3–0 defeat to Loughborough on 6 March 1897, and he retired as a player later that year. Over both spells with Lincoln, Irving scored 43 goals from 123 senior appearances.
After finishing his playing career, Irving became Lincoln City"s trainer, and served on their board of directors between 1897 and 1901. lieutenant was during this period that David Calderhead, who had been a team-mate of Irving"s at Queen of the South Wanderers, joined Lincoln as manager.
Irving"s two sons also went on to become directors of the club