Andy Irving just behind Robert Lewandowski as ex-Hearts man hits a historic hat-trick before West Ham transfer

Former Hearts midfielder Andy Irving struck a historic 22-minute hat-trick for Austria Klagenfurt on Wednesday night as he set a record bettered only by the superstar Polish striker Robert Lewandowski.

Three goals in 22 minutes from Irving underpinned Klagenfurt’s 4-3 victory over title challengers Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. He scored via a deflection to bring his team level at 2-2 in the 63rd minute, then came a powerful drive from outside the penalty area to put them 3-2 ahead 10 minutes later. Finally, the 23-year-old calmly converted a penalty-kick in the 85th minute which proved to be the game’s decisive strike.

Footage of all three goals can be viewed below. Irving is now second on the list of players to score the quickest hat-tricks in history against Salzburg. His 22-minute effort is second only to Lewandowski, who struck three times in 11 minutes for Bayern Munich against the Austrian side in a Champions League tie in 2022. Among the others on the list are the former Austrian international forward Erwin Hoffer, Japanese attacker Daichi Kamada and Croatian striker Marin Ljubicic. The details are shown here in a graphic produced by transfermarkt.co.uk

Irving has now scored five goals in his last four games for Austria Klagenfurt as they aim for their highest-ever league finish and a place in European competition next season. By then, the former Tynecastle player will have moved on. He was transferred to the English Premier League club West Ham United last year before being loaned back to Klagenfurt for the season. He will head to London for pre-season training at his parent club this summer.

The move will bring to an end a crucial period in the player’s career since he left Edinburgh. He chose to head abroad in 2021 and initially joined Türkgücü Munich in Germany’s third tier. Their financial collapse led to Irving joining Klagenfurt the following year before he was transferred to West Ham and loaned back in 2023.

He will head back to the United Kingdom to begin the next chapter of his career in a few weeks, and recently spoke about the transfer in an exclusive interview with the Edinburgh News. You can read it here: Andy Irving exclusive