By Conor Hogan

Andy Irving has left West Ham on a permanent transfer in what feels like a strangely bittersweet turn of events.

The Scot departs London Stadium for Sparta Prague after making just 18 appearances in all competitions for the Hammers.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give much thought to a player who made such a limited impact on the pitch during his time in East London. But there was always something about Irving that will make him oddly difficult to forget.

Perhaps it’s because, despite being a fairly mediocre footballer at Premier League level, a strange little fantasy grew around the 25-year-old.

When West Ham signed him in 2023, virtually nobody knew who he was. He was immediately loaned back to SK Austria Klagenfurt, the club we bought him from, and when he finally returned in 2024 to join Julen Lopetegui’s squad, it barely felt like an event at all. His “arrival” almost went unnoticed.

In truth, much of Andy Irving’s West Ham career felt like it wasn’t supposed to happen. He was a random midfielder who appeared from nowhere, drifting into a squad full of internationals and multi-million-pound stars.

But then he impressed in pre-season. Slowly, people started paying attention. He even earned an interview after scoring in a 1–0 friendly win over Dagenham & Redbridge – a small moment, but one that felt oddly significant.

Irving always came across as genuinely grateful just to be there, determined to prove he belonged. And in a squad full of polished professionals, he was an anomaly.

He didn’t just play like a regular guy – he looked like one too. He was easier to imagine queuing in Tesco than posing for a luxury watch advert. To borrow Jürgen Klopp’s phrase, he felt like the “normal one” among football’s “special ones”.

That image was only reinforced by the car he drove to training. While teammates rolled into Rush Green in Porsches, Rolls-Royces and BMWs – even teenage academy players – Irving turned up in a modest white Nissan Juke. The kind of car you might find on Facebook Marketplace or DoneDeal.

And somehow, that made people respect him even more.

A small fairytale began to form. After those promising pre-season displays, fans started to dream. Maybe this ordinary bloke could break into the side. Maybe he’d score a last-minute winner against Spurs. Maybe he’d become a cult hero in Stratford.

Of course, reality had other ideas.

Irving played just 331 minutes for West Ham, never scoring or assisting. He had the odd decent moment – most notably a respectable showing at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in early 2025 – but he never truly established himself.

He didn’t become a mainstay. And in truth, he probably was never meant to. The whole story was just strange from start to finish.

Still, his departure brings a surprising sense of disappointment for some fans, myself included. But I’m glad he’s moving somewhere he’s likely to play regularly and build something meaningful.

Irving’s time at West Ham wasn’t a success – but it wasn’t a failure either.

He became a Premier League footballer. He became a Scotland international. And now he’s joining a club competing in Europe. That’s not a bad story at all.

I wish him nothing but the best, and who knows – if he finds form in Prague, we might even see him lining up at the World Cup later this year.

Thanks for everything, Andy.