William John Irvine (18 June 1943 – 26 July 2025) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Born in Eden, County Antrim, into a large family, he grew up in the nearby town of Carrickfergus. He did well at school, but chose to pursue a career in professional football and initially played for local club Linfield. After a spell in amateur football, Irvine travelled to England for a trial with Burnley at the age of 16. He was offered a professional deal and spent three years playing for the youth and reserve teams, before making his senior debut at the end of the 1962–63 season. Over the following seasons, Irvine became a regular feature of the Burnley team and in the 1965–66 campaign, he scored 29 goals and was the highest goalscorer in the Football League First Division.
Irvine lost his place in the Burnley team after suffering a broken leg during a cup tie in 1967, and never properly regained his form for the club. He was later transfer listed, and joined local rivals Preston North End in March 1968. In the Football League Second Division, he began to score goals again and was Preston's top goalscorer in the 1968–69 season despite suffering a serious leg injury which forced him to miss much of the campaign. When Alan Ball was named Preston manager in the summer of 1970, Irvine found himself out of the team. He joined Brighton & Hove Albion in July 1971 after impressing during a loan spell earlier in the year. He moved to Halifax Town midway through the 1972–73 season, but left the club after six months. Irvine ended his football career with a spell at semi-professional Great Harwood, before retiring at the age of 29.
In addition to playing club football, Irvine also represented the Northern Ireland national football team. He won 23 caps for his country, scoring eight goals. After retiring from football, he ran his own do-it-yourself shop but suffered from severe depression when the business collapsed. Irvine spent time in hospital after taking an overdose of medication, but recovered and later worked as a community worker before becoming a window cleaner. He later worked full-time in an aerospace factory, and also gave guided tours of Burnley's stadium, Turf Moor, on matchdays.
Early life William John Irvine was born on 18 June 1943 in the village of Eden, County Antrim, on the east coast of Northern Ireland.Thomas (2005), p. 8 He was born to Alex and Agnes Irvine, and had 17 half-brothers and half-sisters from his mother's previous marriages. Irvine was 11 months old when his father, who had played football for Distillery,Thomas (2005), p. 21 died after being involved in a motorcycle accident.Thomas (2005), p. 5 He came from a poor background and when he was young the family resided in a small wooden bungalow that had neither electricity nor running water.Thomas (2005), p. 13 His mother worked often, and Irvine was looked after by his elder siblings. At the age of one, he started to attend Eden School so that he could be looked after by the teachers while his sisters earned money.Thomas (2005), p. 18 When he was seven years old, the family moved to the Sunnylands estate in nearby Carrickfergus after his mother was sent to Omagh Prison for falsely claiming benefits.Thomas (2005), p. 23
Irvine soon warmed to his new neighbourhood; he enjoyed visiting Carrickfergus Castle and often spent time at the harbour.Thomas (2005), p. 33 In 1950, he moved to Sunnylands Primary School and began to play football seriously. He initially concentrated on playing as a goalkeeper for the school team.Thomas (2005), p. 27 In 1953, the team reached the final of the County Cup, but were defeated 0–3 by an older side from Carrick Technical School.Thomas (2005), p. 28 Irvine's elder brother Bobby, who went on to represent Stoke City and was also a Northern Ireland international, played for the opposition. Along with his schoolmate William Donnelly, Irvine often frequented Windsor Park to watch the Northern Ireland national team, and he idolised players such as Jimmy McIlroy and Danny Blanchflower.
At 14, Irvine enrolled at Carrick Technical School, where he studied German, physics, chemistry and woodwork. He excelled in his studies and was urged to go to university, but his family could not afford the fees. His interest in football increasing, he started to play in a midfielder position for the Carrickfergus-based Barn United and was selected to represent the East Antrim Schoolboys as well as the Irish Schools team. His performances while playing for Northern Ireland in the Victory Shield led to him signing junior terms with Belfast-based club Linfield, where his brother Bobby was the first-team goalkeeper.Thomas (2005), p. 29 Several months later, Irvine left Linfield and joined local men's team Barn United, who competed in the Northern Ireland Amateur League. Several clubs, including Manchester United, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers showed an interest in him and in 1959, Jimmy McIlroy invited Irvine to a trial at English side Burnley.Thomas (2005), p. 32
Club career Burnley Irvine joined the Burnley youth team initially on a month's trial, along with other young players including Brian O'Neil and Willie Morgan. He suffered an injury to his ankle but recovered in time for the final trial match against local rivals Blackburn Rovers. His performances during the month had sufficiently impressed manager Harry Potts, and Irvine was offered a permanent contract.Thomas (2005), p. 48 He became a full member of the youth team and was an understudy to the team that won the Football League First Division in the 1959–60 season. As an apprentice footballer he earned a basic wage of £7 per week.Thomas (2005), p. 46 While in the youth squad, Irvine was converted into a centre forward and in his first match in the position scored a hat-trick for the Burnley C team. He scored more than 40 goals for the A team in the Lancashire League during the 1961–62 season, including 6 in an 8–3 win against a Blackburn Rovers representative team. On 14 October 1961, Irvine made his debut for the Burnley reserve side, scoring a hat-trick in a 6–1 victory over Barnsley.Thomas (2005), p. 64 Both the A team and the reserves were crowned champions of their respective divisions at the end of the season, and Potts singled out Irvine for particular praise, stating that Burnley had not "had a more consistent goal getter than Willie for a very long time."Thomas (2005), p. 67
Going into the 1962–63 campaign, Irvine returned to the Burnley A team and scored a hat-trick against Bury early in the season. After Andy Lochhead was promoted to the first team in October 1962, Irvine became the reserve side's first-choice centre forward. He continued to score regularly, netting 8 goals in 15 appearances, although he was forced to stop playing for a period in the winter of 1963 when adverse weather caused the postponement of several matches.Thomas (2005), p. 73 After his Northern Ireland debut in April that year, he made several more appearances for the reserves, and his goal against Blackpool was described by journalist Keith McNee as "the finest goal [he had] seen".Thomas (2005), p. 82 On 11 May 1963, Irvine was asked by manager Potts to travel with the first team for their final away fixture of the season at Arsenal. He was a boot boy, and was originally only intended to assist Ray Bennion in transporting the team kit to and from the game. It was reported in the Burnley Express the day before the match that he would be making his professional debut against Arsenal, although Irvine himself only found out just before the match.Thomas (2005), p. 86 He started at centre forward in place of Lochhead, who was unable to play because of a leg injury. Irvine had a successful introduction to senior football and scored a headed goal after 20 minutes of play, the first goal in a 3–2 win for Burnley.Simpson (2007), p. 306 He was again selected three days later for the last game of the campaign at home to Birmingham City and scored a hat-trick as Burnley ended the season with a 3–1 victory.
Irvine started the first match of the 1963–64 campaign, a 3–1 defeat away to Ipswich Town. However, he suffered a broken hand during the game, which left him unable to play throughout the following months.Thomas (2005), p. 90 Even after recovery, he remained sidelined, unable to regain his place in the starting eleven. Irvine did not play again for Burnley until 30 March 1964, when he was chosen to play at inside-right in the away tie against Bolton Wanderers. Despite Irvine's fifth goal in four league starts, Burnley were beaten 2–1.Simpson (2007), p. 310 He retained his place in the team for the next two matches, before returning to his more preferred centre forward position for the 3–0 loss at home to Liverpool on 14 April 1964. He scored three more goals in the final two matches of the season, including two in a 7–2 win against Tottenham Hotspur. His frequent goalscoring led to him becoming a more integral part of the Burnley side during the following campaign, in which he scored three goals in the first six matches, although the team achieved only four draws and two losses. He was dropped from the starting line-up for the away match at Birmingham City on 12 September 1964. The team suffered three defeats in the following four fixtures, and Irvine was reinstated to the team for the trip to West Bromwich Albion two weeks later. He immediately marked his return with both Burnley goals in a 2–1 win, the team's first away victory of the season.Simpson (2007), p. 314 Irvine retained his place in the side for most of the remainder of the campaign, and in December he scored seven goals in four games, including a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Fulham. Despite missing a small portion of the campaign through injury,Thomas (2005), p. 104 Irvine ended the season with a total of 22 goals in 37 league and cup matches, one more goal than centre forward partner Lochhead.
The Irvine–Lochhead partnership continued into the 1965–66 campaign. Irvine scored a goal in a 2–1 win against Lausanne Sports on a pre-season tour of Switzerland, and his first competitive goal of the season came on 24 August 1965 in a 3–1 home victory against Blackpool. He scored two in the return match at Bloomfield Road the following week, and two matches later he netted a hat-trick in a 4–1 defeat of Northampton Town. Between the 1–1 draw away at Leeds United on 30 October 1965 and the 5–2 win against Fulham on 11 December 1965, Irvine scored in seven consecutive league matches.Simpson (2007), p. 318 In a 3–1 win against West Ham United, Irvine and Lochhead both scored in the same match for the first time, despite having played together for almost three seasons.Simpson (2007), p. 317 Irvine took his goalscoring form into the cup competitions, netting five times in three FA Cup ties, and scoring the winning goals against Southampton and Stoke City as the team reached the fifth round of the EFL Cup before being knocked out by Peterborough United. During the second half of the season, he went through a somewhat barren spell, failing to score in the league between 8 January 1966 and 26 March 1966. He ended his poor run of form with a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Nottingham Forest at Turf Moor. He subsequently got on the scoresheet in the next six league games, including two goals against Sheffield Wednesday which took him to 27 league goals, the joint-highest total since George Beel's 30 in the 1928–29 season. Irvine's 29th and final goal of the season came on 23 April 1966 in a 2–0 home victory against Liverpool. He was the highest scorer in the Football League First Division that season, the first, and to date only, time a Burnley player had achieved the feat.