David Irving (born 10 September 1951) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Playing career

Irving started his professional playing career with Workington AFC before signing for Everton in the old English

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

for £30,000 – the highest youth transfer fee of the time. Later on he moved to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

on loan and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

. In the mid-1970s he crossed the Atlantic to play in the United States for the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–83) Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

. Whilst with the Strikers, he played alongside such legendary players as

Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalsco ...

Teófilo Cubillas Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga (; born 8 March 1949) is a Peruvian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50. H ...

and

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

. He also played against footballers like

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

and

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

. After Fort Lauderdale, he featured for other American teams such as the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

, the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

and the Atlanta Chiefs. He signed for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

in October 1977. He made his debut on the 23rd at Milltown scoring against Drogheda United. He netted a hat trick at Galway on his fourth appearance and scored further goals against Home Farm and against St. Patrick's Athletic on his last appearance in the famous green and white Hoops. In total he played 16 times scoring six goals.

Coaching career

After retiring from professional football, Irving earned himself an FA coaching badge. He began his managerial career with

Oulun Palloseura Oulun Palloseura or OPS is a Finnish multi-sports club based in Oulu. The club has sections in football, bandy and bowling. The club was founded in 1927. Football The football team has won the Finnish championship twice (1979, 1980) and as a co ...

where he was the player/assistant manager for a season. He moved back to the United States in 1989 when he joined the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–94) Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

as the assistant coach, helping the Strikers to the Pro Soccer League National Championship title in 1989. In 1990, he became the head coach of the

Miami Freedom The Miami Sharks were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team was renamed the Miami Freedom and joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soc ...

of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

. That year the Freedom finished 8–12. He continued with the club into the 1991 season, but was fired after nine games with the team at 1–1–7 (win-draw-loss). Irving was the head coach of the

Carolina Vipers The Carolina Vipers were an indoor soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League. They played only one season in 1994. Their home arena was Independence Arena. The Vipers were owned by former C ...

of the now defunct

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pre ...

in 1994. Irving was the head coach of the

Myrtle Beach Boyz The Myrtle Beach Boyz were an American soccer team that played in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They were part of the USISL professional soccer league that was the eventually the foundation for Major League Soccer we see today. In addition The A le ...

of the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ( ...

in 1995. Irving was the head coach of the

Myrtle Beach Seadawgs Myrtle Beach Seadawgs were an American soccer team that played in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Their home field was Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium. The roster included Eric Schmitt (soccer), Eric Schmitt, Jimmy May, Willie Files, Ross Moore, Barry ...

of the

at the start of the 1997 season. At the beginning of the 1998 season,

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. History ...

found themselves needing a new coach and managed to get Irving back into management. He brought success to the Hammerheads, winning them the

title in 2003. He also tries to get English football clubs to play pre-season friendlies against Wilmington, most recently attracting

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. He has a good record at the club with 86 wins, 37 draws and just 12 defeats in eight seasons and has an excellent player recruitment track record, identifying many players from combines and try-outs. In the USL-Pro 2011 season he recruited five such players from combines in California as well as the 2011 USL-Pro 'Rookie of the Year'

Luke Mulholland Luke Mulholland (born 7 August 1988) is a former English footballer and current scout for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer. Career College and amateur Mulholland began his career with English non-league side Lancaster City. He was throw ...

References

External links

David Irving Biography
– a general overview of his playing career, managerial career and other details.
David Irving News Story
– a story about his youth, playing career and personal description.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, David 1951 births American Soccer League (1988–89) coaches American Professional Soccer League coaches Atlanta Chiefs players Continental Indoor Soccer League coaches English footballers English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Finland English football managers Everton F.C. players League of Ireland players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Living people North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players Workington A.F.C. players Sportspeople from Workington USISL coaches People from Aspatria Association football forwards Wilmington Hammerheads FC FC Tulsa coaches English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Footballers from Cumbria