Despite a season of firsts – a first Premier League appearance, a first international call-up – one member of Graham Potter’s West Ham United squad appears a little uncertain of how best to reflect on his 2024/25 campaign.
While James Ward-Prowse disappointed at West Ham and Nottingham Forest apiece, while Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus fell well short of their best and Niclas Fullkrug struggled to stay clear of injuries, one may have expected to hear Andy Irving talk slightly more positively about his first season in a claret and blue jersey.
By his own admission, West Ham was an opportunity Irving could not turn down.
And, after joining back in 2023 for just £1.6 million, the Hammers finally handed their well-travelled Scot his chance to impress following a superb campaign over in Austria with Austria Klagenfurt.
When Irving appeared in a Premier League XI for the very first time during West Ham United’s narrow 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in February, this initially felt like a coming-of-age moment for the late-blooming midfielder.
Instead of kicking on and cementing his place in Graham Potter’s plans, though, Irving would play a grand total of one minute across the following 14 top-flight fixtures.
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Andy Irving wanted more game time at West Ham United
Should he feature during Scotland’s friendly clash with Iceland on Friday night, then, this will be the Heart of Midlothian graduate’s first outing since a cameo appearance off the bench against Leicester City four months earlier.
“The last two, three months haven’t been the easiest period,” Irving admits, speaking to the official West Ham website. “So the call-up for Scotland is something that I’m really excited about.
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“I think for me, when I first came [into the first-team set-up] last summer, it was quite a new experience for me being part of this at West Ham. There have been lots of brilliant experiences throughout the season.
“I feel I’ve done well. I would have liked to have played more, of course, but that’s what everyone pushes for. And once you play your first game, you then want to kick on and play as many as you possibly can.
“I’ve had to be patient at times, but on a personal note, I’ve really enjoyed this season.”
Andy Irving believes he has ‘really improved’ during his time at West Ham.
But at the age of 25 it still feels unlikely that a man who played third-tier football in Germany with Turkgucu Munchen three years ago will ever be anything more than a useful back-up option, even for a West Ham side whose midfield options hardly get hairs standing up on end.
Irving hopes to seize Scotland chance as London Stadium exit looms
The Athletic report that West Ham are expected to sell Irving this summer.
An impressive display on what could be his first Scotland start against Iceland, though, should help to alert any potential suitors to the Edinburgh-born dynamo’s availability.
“If you look at the Scotland squad now, where everyone’s playing – the leagues, the teams and how well everyone’s doing throughout the squad, not just in midfield – you can see that there’s a lot of competition and a lot of quality,” adds Irving.
“So I’m grateful to be a part of it and excited for that challenge. Being at that level is only going to make you better and make you stronger on and off the pitch.
“Looking back at everything that I’ve done and all the work that I’ve put in, all the sacrifices have paid off. [A Scotland debut] would definitely be one of the highlights of my career.
“It’s the ultimate honour to play for your country. It’s a moment that I’ve always had in the back of my mind, having been capped throughout various age groups. Now, I want to go the full way and play for the first-team and represent my country again.”
Irving scored 10 times from midfield for Austria Klagenfurt in 2023/24. He even completed a stunning hat-trick in the space of just 22 minutes against the giants of Red Bull Salzburg.