Michael Charles Lake (born 16 November 1966), commonly known as Mike Lake, is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Lake was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. After being a peripheral figure in his first few seasons at Sheffield United and hindered by injuries, Lake then featured more regularly in the early 1990s once United were back in the old First Division. Lake's time at United is best remembered during the 1991–92 season where he had a consistent spell in the team and scored four times in four games, all of which were opportunist and often spectacular. Lake, with his distinctive long hair and sudden goal scoring streak, became a cult-hero at United and as a result of the spectacular goals the Blades fans nicknamed Lake, Mike "Zico" Lake, after the famous Brazilian footballer Arthur Antunes Coimbra, better known as Zico. In particular, Lake is remembered at United for his long range goal against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in a 4–2 victory at The Dell. The goal was also nominated for goal of the month and was described as a "Brazilian bender" by United's manager Dave Bassett. Lake also scored a second in the same match, again from long range, this time aided by a deflection. In search of regular first team football, Lake joined

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in November of the 1992–93 season, first in a three-month loan which was then made permanent in a £40,000 deal later on in the season, much to the delight of the Wrexham fans, of which numerous had written to Lake personally asking him to join permanently, upon the end of his loan spell. Lake again became a favourite and won promotion with Wrexham during the same season. Injuries began to then take their toll and Lake was released by Wrexham at the end of the 1994–95 season. Lake won the Welsh Cup in his final season at the Racecourse Stadium. Wrexham was Lake's last club as injuries prevented him from playing elsewhere and he had to retire.

Personal life

He is the elder brother of former

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

favourite

Paul Lake Paul Andrew Lake (born 28 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer who played for Manchester City and represented England at under-21 and B team level. He had an excellent early career with Manchester City, winning the FA ...

References

Living people 1966 births Footballers from Manchester Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Macclesfield Town F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players {{England-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub