Larkin was born in
Digbeth, Birmingham. He joined local club
Birmingham City as a 16-year-old
wing half, signing professional forms at 18. He made his debut at
inside left in October 1956, when he was nearly 21; the club had a big squad in those days, and it was not unusual for a player to be well into his twenties before getting into the first team on a regular basis. :"When I joined the club the staff was bigger than is normal nowadays. We even had pros playing for the fifth team and by the time you reached the 'A' team there were some very good players indeed." He scored on debut, but still only played another six games that season. He played more frequently the following season, filling in at right-half for
Johnny Watts. He took part in both legs of the semi-final of the
1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup against
Barcelona, though he missed the replay. His career changed in November 1958, when he was selected at inside left in place of the ageing
Peter Murphy. Between then and the end of the season he scored 23 goals in all competitions, including four goals in the early rounds of the
1958–60 Fairs Cup, which made him the club's top scorer for the
1958–59 season. He attributed his goalscoring success to being two-footed: He spent two seasons at Norwich, then went on to
Doncaster Rovers,
Watford,
Lincoln City and to
non-league clubs including
Wisbech Town,
Nuneaton Borough,
King's Lynn and
Stevenage Athletic. After retiring from football he settled in the
Norwich area and became a salesman for a bakery firm. ==Death==