Career
He was formerly the head coach of the England national under-19 football team He played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Shrewsbury Town, Birmingham City,, Leeds United, Stoke City, Bradford City and Exeter City, and in the Scottish Football League for Dundee. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Blake moved to England and played football with non-league side Sutton Coldfield Town.
He was spotted by scouts at Aston Villa who signed Blake a year later.
He struggled to force his way into the Villa side and went out on loan to Shrewsbury Town in 1982. He left Villa upon his return and joined local rivals Birmingham City.
He quickly became a fan favourite with Birmingham as he scored against Villa in December 1982. He spent two years with Birmingham before signing with on the south coast.
Whilst he did enjoy some success at "Pompey" winning promotion in 1987, Blake had problems with racial abuse from his own supporters.
After making over 150 appearances with, Blake joined Leeds United on a free transfer and he helped to club to promotion in the 1989-1990 season. However his opportunities were limited the following season and so he was sold to Stoke City. Blake"s old manager at Alan Ball tempted Blake to join him at Stoke City in 1990.
Ball was sacked in February 1991 as Stoke went on to record their worst league position of 14th in the third tier.
Stoke"s new manager Lou Macari only used Blake sparingly and later joined Bradford City on loan in 1992. He joined Bradford permanently and latter played for Scottish side Dundee before ending his playing career with Exeter City.
Blake held the position of manager of Exeter City from January 2000 until September 2001. A qualified coach and holder of the Union of European Football Associations Pro Licence, Blake was appointed in February 2007 as one of the Football Association"s National Coaches to work with players in England"s youth teams and to assist with coach education.
He was placed in charge of the England under-19 team in 2009, leading the side to the semi-finals of the Union of European Football Associations European Under-19 Championship in both 2010 and 2012 before leaving the Football Association in June 2014.
On 1 July it was reported that Blake was about to become first-team coach at Blackpool. On 27 October Blake was put in temporary charge following the departure of Jose Riga. He left Blackpool in December 2014.