From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David Irving, born 10 September 1951 in Allerdale, England is a former professional football player. He played as a striker. His childhood ambition was to play for then Football League side Workington. He is now the head coach of USL Second Division side Wilmington Hammerheads. He joined the Hammerheads at the beginning of the 1998 season.

He started his long and successful professional playing career with Workington AFC before signing for Everton in the old English Football League First Division for £30,000 - the highest youth transfer fee of the time. Later on he moved to Sheffield United on loan and Oldham Athletic. In the mid-1970s he crossed the Atlantic to play in the United States for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Whilst with the Strikers, he played alongside such legendary players as Gordon Banks, Gerd Müller and the late George Best. He also played against footballers like Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer. After Fort Lauderdale, he featured for other American teams such as the Tulsa Roughnecks, the San Jose Earthquakes and the Atlanta Chiefs.

He signed for Shamrock Rovers in October 1977 [1] He made his debut on the 23rd at Milltown scoring against Drogheda United. He netted a hat trick at Galway on his 4th 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 6 goals.

After retiring from professional football, Irving earned himself an English F.A. coaching badge. He began his manegerial career with Oulun Palloseura where he was the player/assistant manager for a season. He moved back to the United States in 1989 when he rejoined the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 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. That year the Freedom finished 8-12. He continued with the club into the 1991 season, but was fired after 9 games with the team at 1-1-7 (win-draw-loss).

He then took a seven year break from the game to spend more time with his family. At the beginning of the 1998 season, Wilmington Hammerheads found themselves needing a new coach and managed to get Irving back into management. He brought success to the Hammerheads, winning them the USL Second Division title in 2003. He also tries to get English football clubs to play pre-season friendlies against Wilmington, most recently attracting Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday. He has a good record at the club with 86 wins, 37 draws and just 12 defeats in eight seasons.

• 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.