 Irvine added to his tally with home and away goals against Halifax Town, where he would go on to play the next season, and a strike against Aston Villa that was named as runner-up in a Goal of the Season competition by television programme "Match of the Day".With the forward partnership of Irvine and Kit Napier, Brighton performed better than expected in the 1971–72 season.At the end of the campaign, following a 1–1 draw with Rochdale the team was promoted to the Second Division, after finishing as runners-up behind Aston Villa.