At the age of eight he played for the Denton Youth under-12 side. He won the 1980 Smiths Crisps Six-a-Side Championship with his school, St Mary's RC Primary (Denton), and scored the winning goal in the Wembley final against St Cuthbert's School (Sunderland). He was spotted by Manchester City scout Ted Davies playing for Denton Boys under-13s, who got him a place alongside Andy Hinchcliffe on Blue Star, a feeder team to Manchester City. Ian Brightwell later joined the team, though by then the club had changed its name to Midas, and later Pegasus. Lake became an associated schoolboy at City in July 1983, and signed a contract to become a Youth Training Scheme apprentice in July 1985. He won a treble in the 1985–86 season, as the reserve team won the Central League, the 'A' team won the Lancashire league title, and the youth team beat Manchester United in the FA Youth Cup final. He signed professional forms with the club on his 18th birthday.