Andy Irving’s footballing dream came true as he made his senior Scotland debut in a 4-0 friendly win in Liechtenstein on Monday evening.
The West Ham United midfielder completed his journey from the playing fields of Portobello to pulling on the famous royal blue shirt of the Tartan Army when he was introduced as a second-half substitute at the Rheinparkstadion in Vaduz.
Irving showed his quality on the ball as former West Ham coach Steve Clarke’s Scotland secured a welcome and deserved win thanks to a hat-trick from Torino striker Che Adams.
The former Heart of Midlothian youngster was capped by Scotland at U21 level back in 2020 before embarking on a courageous career that took him to the German third tier, Austrian Bundesliga and, in summer 2023, to east London.
Irving made his Premier League breakthrough this season just gone, making ten top-flight appearances and impressing with his calm demeanour, positive personality and relentless professionalism.
And all those characteristics combined to see him called into Clarke’s squad for a second time for the June international window.
After watching Friday’s defeat by Iceland in Glasgow from the substitutes’ bench, the 25-year-old was given a chance to impress on Monday, when he replaced John McGinn – the Aston Villa player whose shirt he swapped earlier this season – with 31 minutes to play.
Scotland were three goals to the good by then – two from Adams and one from Ipswich Town’s George Hirst – and produced a bright display in the closing stages capped by Adams’ third goal in the final minute of normal time.
Irving will hope to retain his place in Clarke’s squad when Scotland kick-off their 2025 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign away to Denmark and Belarus in September.
In the meantime, he can bask in the achievement of becoming West Ham’s seventh senior Scotland international after John Dick, Ray Stewart, Frank McAvennie, Christian Dailly, Don Hutchison and Robert Snodgrass.
Everyone at West Ham United would like to congratulate Andy on making his debut!
