Fresh from completing his maiden Premier League campaign with West Ham United, midfielder Andy Irving has his sights set on achieving another lifelong dream of making his senior international debut for Scotland in their upcoming friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein during the June international window.
The 25-year-old, who received his first senior call-up ahead of UEFA Nations League Group A1 ties with Croatia and Portugal in October 2024, enjoyed his first season at the Club despite finding opportunities hard to come by, finishing with eleven domestic appearances to his name in all competitions and having become something of a cult hero among the fanbase.
Irving - who is one of seven uncapped players in Steve Clarke’s squad - was first capped by Scotland at U14 level and has since represented his country in the U17, U19 and U21 age-groups. Should he feature against either Iceland (Friday 6 June, 7.45pm BST) or Liechtenstein (Monday 9 June, 5pm BST), he would become the Hammers’ seventh senior Scotland men’s international, following John Dick, Ray Stewart, Frank McAvennie, Christian Dailly, Don Hutchison and Robert Snodgrass.
After making what feels like a career's worth of memories in just the last 12 months, our No39 is full of excitement ahead of what is arguably one of the biggest weeks of his life, as he looks to win his milestone first cap at either Hampden Park in Glasgow or Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz.
“I'm absolutely delighted to be part of the squad again, and it would be an absolute honour [to make my senior debut],” Irving smiled.
“It’s something that if you told me when I was younger that I’d be part of the national team then I would have bitten your hand off. So to be at this point, it's amazing, and if this is the opportunity that I get to make my debut, then it’s absolutely brilliant.
“The last time I was with the national team was in October, which was my first time with the senior squad, and it was brilliant. To watch those games (against Croatia and Portugal) from the side and see players like [Luka] Modrić and [Cristiano] Ronaldo and see how we prepared for a game against them was incredible, as was seeing and understanding the level required at Scotland.
“You're competing with top players. 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, so I'm grateful to be a part of it and excited for that challenge, and 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, so it (senior 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, and now I want to go the full way and play for the first-team and represent my country again.
“It’s also become quite apparent that next summer is the [FIFA] World Cup, and it would be an unbelievable achievement and experience to represent Scotland at a World Cup, so that's been in the back of my head as well, and hopefully I can make another good impression and then be a part of the qualifiers coming up and see where it takes us.”
Despite perhaps not featuring as much as he would've liked for West Ham during 2024/25, ten Premier League appearances, plus one outing in the EFL Cup, is no mean feat for any player.
For Irving, it is something he’s incredibly proud of. While he was forced to be patient at times, and had to navigate through some tough spells, the 'Portobello Pirlo' showcased his technical ability and unique qualities throughout, and he believes he has proven he’s more than capable of competing at the top level.
“The last two, three months haven’t been the easiest period, so the call-up for Scotland is something that I’m really excited about,” Irving added.
“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.”
