A brilliant utility player and former captain during his City career, Lake was forced to retire in 1996 after a knee injury meant, despite being only 27, he had to hang his boots up for the last time.
He returned to City after several years as a physiotherapist and became City’s face of CITC in 2010, raising thousands of pounds for the official club charity.
In 2011, he released his critically acclaimed autobiography ‘I’m Not Really Here’, but despite his popularity and success with CITC, Lake feels now is the right time to move on – though he will still be involved with his beloved Blues within his new role.
“I’ve had a really enjoyable time working at City,” he said. “Understanding how the Club ticks on a daily basis and seeing how all of the departments work together has been a real insight for me and it will be sad to leave.
I am however, really looking forward to working for the Premier League. This role will take me to the coal-face of academy football in the north- west and the game that I love
...Paul Lake...
“City’s future looks incredibly exciting with a manager full of new ideas and a different approach to both the PL and CL football. We know how strong the squad is and there will be a steely determination to press hard for the title and more silverware.
“I intend to come to as many games as I can and have strict instructions to pick up three new kits for my children!”
Lake is justifiably proud of the work he undertook with CITC and is also looking forward to returning to the Etihad on match-days as a normal paying City fan.
He said: “I’ll leave behind four events to fundraise for City in the Community; the Santa Stroll, Velocity, The Etihad Tournament and the new CITC Golf Day.
“We have some fantastic contacts for our community team, a real connection with all of our supporters clubs where we are blessed with some fantastically loyal and passionate fans.
“And finally, I’ve had the pleasure of working with the match day legends - some great guys and proper Blues!”
He may be moving on, but Paul Lake remains a dedicated City fan and, had fate been kinder, he might just have been perhaps our greatest player to date.
As it is, he was merely excellent and we can only guess how high his star may have risen. Good luck Lakey from everyone connected with MCFC.
