Martin was born on 25 April 1963 in East Ham, London and started his footballing career with Millwall in May 1980 after serving his apprenticeship with the club.
[2] With Wimbledon, he won promotion to the First Division in 1986 and made 35 appearances and scored three goals in the Football League before joining Southend United on 23 August 1986.
[2][3] He signed for Bristol City on 19 July 1993 and was loaned out to Northampton Town on 13 February 1995, where he made seven appearances and scored one goal.
[2] He finished his career at City with 45 appearances and one goal before being signed by Gillingham on 4 August 1995 by manager Tony Pulis and was subsequently named as the club captain.
[2][3] He finished the 1995–96 season by gaining promotion to the Second Division and left on 30 July 1996 to join Leyton Orient.