Middlesborough youngster Brian Wake played for Norwich City's Under 19 side in a clash with their Sunderland counterparts on Saturday 13th January. He played again as substitute the following weekend, coming on and scoring in the 1-1 draw with Ipswich.

Brian joined Albany Northern League side Tow Low Town although he had a trial with Grimsby during the 2000/01 season. In December 2001, he signed for Carlisle United. He made 57 appearances for the Cumbrians and famously scored a hat-trick at Shrewsbury Town that preserved the Cumbrians' Football League status

In November 2003, he, along with 8 others, were transfer-listed by Carlisle in order to raise funds for team-rebuilding. He moved to neighbours Gretna who play in the Scottish League.

In the opening months of the 2004/5 season, Brian made seven appearances for Gretna, scoring on his last three appearances but then suffered a knee injury in late October. In February 2004, it looked as if Brian would move to Unibond League side Workington but the revelation that Brian needed surgery on his knee to remove debris from the injury ruled out the move.

In May 2005, Brian was loaned to Scarborough until Christmas 2005. He then transferred his loan to Hamilton Academicals on 31st January 2006. This became a permanent move

In 2008, Brian transferred to Greenock Morton. In his first nine games, he failed to score but then netted four in three games to save Morton from relegation.

Brian joined Conference side Gateshead on 26th January 2010. "Wake is a player with a proven pedigree who we enquired about in the summer before he signed a one year deal to stay at Morton," said Gateshead manager Ian Bogie."He is a hard working target man who can hold the ball up and who will give us a physical presence up front - and he has already proved that he can score important goals."

On 10th March 2011, it was announced that Wake had secured a move to an unnamed Swedish club on a two year contract. The club was later revealed to be Östersunds FK.He made his competitive debut for Östersunds against Friska Viljor FC in the first round of the 2011 Svenska Cupen, scoring four goals in a 6–1 victory.

On 25th July 2012, Wake signed for Superettan side Umeå. He made his debut on 4th August 2012 in a 0–1 loss to Hammarby. He scored his first goal for Umeå on 13th August 2012 in a 1–0 win over Jönköpings Södra. In January 2013 it was announced that Wake would return to Östersund where he would play for IFK Östersund combined with working as an assistant coach for his former club Östersunds FK.