a similarly short spell at dundee united followed, before fifteen months at shrewsbury town. in 1989, irvine moved to japanese club mazda, but returned to scotland in 1990 with st mirren, playing just under 40 times for the "buddies". irvine then spent time with northern irish side portadown, where his achilles tendon rupture side-lined him for two years. alex totten signed irvine for a second time, beginning a final two-year playing spell with east fife, where he retired from playing in 1995.