Martin joined City as an apprentice in 1979 and was a member of the same youth team as Perry Suckling, John Hendrie and Ian Butterworth and won England Youth honours. In 1982 he got a surprise first team call up when Gerry Francis was injured and he scored the winning goal against Everton. A box-to-box right-sided midfield player he was on the fringes of the first team for four seasons but the form of first Steve Whitton and later Mickey Gynn meant the blond wide-man got limited opportunities in the first team.

In December 1984 he moved to Bradford City for £20,000 and in his first season was in the City side that won promotion under Terry Yorath. He played in the fateful match in which the Valley Parade fire occurred. In 1986 he moved to West Brom and a year later was a big signing for Northampton for whom he played 60 games in two seasons. He was reunited with his former City teammate Kenny Hibbitt at Walsall in 1990 and played 28 games before knee injuries ended his league career. Spells at Aylesbury United, Worcester City, Stafford Rangers and his hometown club Banbury United followed. Martin was last heard of as a sales representative for a Banbury-based window company.