Lane was an apprentice at Old Trafford for five years but was released in 1982 after failing to make the first team. The full-back joined Chester and made 209 appearances for the Cheshire club where City spotted him in 1987. A £25,000 fee made him a City player but he could not displace Greg Downs and made only three substitute appearances in two years. He returned to Chester for the same fee in January 1989 and made a further 120 appearances for them, mainly at centre-half. A brief spell at Walsall in 1991 led to a move into non-league football with Shepshed Albion, Worcester City and Hinckley Town which he combined with working for a security company.