[2] He played football for Rubery & Rednal British Legion as a centre forward before joining Birmingham City in October 1948.
While in Birmingham's junior teams, Blake was converted to play at full back,[3] and it was as a left back that he made his first-team debut on 18 February 1950, deputising for Dennis Jennings in the First Division match away at Bolton Wanderers, a game which Birmingham lost 1–0.
Due to injuries to other players, he made his Gillingham debut in his former position as a striker against Crystal Palace on 3 September 1952, and marked the occasion with a goal.
[2] He made nine further appearances for the club during the 1952–53 season in his more usual defensive role, but then sustained a serious knee injury.
An operation in the spring of 1953 proved unsuccessful and he was forced into retirement.