Early career Born in
Glasgow, Scotland, Teale began his career at
Clydebank. As a youth player he spent time training with
Davie Cooper, who Teale felt had a major influence on his development and career. In 1995, he made his debut at the age of 16 in a
Scottish League Cup match against
Motherwell. During his first season at the club, he made most of his appearances as a substitute, and scored his first goal for the club towards the end of the season in a 2–1 win against
St Mirren. In the summer of 1996, Clydebank were forced to take several cost-cutting measures, leaving Teale as one of only two players on full-time contracts at the club. He became a first team regular at the start of the
1996–97 season, and his impressive performances earned him a call up to the
Scotland under-21s. Later in the season, he was given trials at
Tottenham Hotspur and
Newcastle United, but a move failed to materialise. He finished the season with six goals as the club were relegated to the
Second Division. In October 1997, Teale was involved a car crash, later admitting that he was "lucky to be alive". The incident left him with a broken collarbone, and did not feature in the team until the end of the following month. He struggled to maintain his place in the first team during the
1997–98 season, starting in only 13 of 27 league appearances, and at one point was dropped from the team by manager
Ian McCall "in the hope it would give him a kick up the backside." Clydebank finished the season as runners-up in the league, regaining promotion to the
First Division. In October 1998, due to Clydebank's growing financial difficulties, Teale was sold to
Ayr United for a fee of £70,000, a signing described by McCall as "a Christmas bargain in October." Although there was interest from several English clubs, Teale opted to remain in Scotland as he felt he was not yet ready to leave his home country. He made his debut in a 2–0 win against St Mirren, and scored his first goal for the club on his home debut two weeks later in a 4–2 win against
Falkirk. He picked up a
Second Division winners medal for the
2002–03 season. In the
2004–05 season Wigan were promoted into the
Premiership for the first time in their history, after which Teale signed a new two-year contract with the club. He also helped Wigan reach their first ever major cup final when they finished runners-up to
Manchester United in
2006. Teale was the only player to feature in every match during the cup run, and played the full 90 minutes of the final itself. He eventually left Wigan after six years at the club to join
Derby County for £600,000 on 11 January 2007.
Derby County Teale was brought to Derby by
Billy Davies to sustain Derby's push towards the
Premiership and made his debut in a 1–0 win over
Sheffield Wednesday on 13 January 2007, scoring his first goal with the opener in a 2–2 draw with
Hull City on 10 February 2007. Despite this, he failed to hold a regular place in the Derby first team towards the end of the season and failed to make the squad for Derby's 1–0 win over
W.B.A in the
2007 playoff final which earned Derby promotion. Teale found himself in and out of the starting line up as Derby struggled to adapt to the top flight and despite playing a part in 22 games, primarily as substitute, over the
2007–08 season, he was loaned out to
Championship side
Plymouth Argyle by new Derby boss
Paul Jewell until the end of the 2007–08 season because he needed to 'regain some confidence' Teale's loan spell at Plymouth impressed Argyle boss
Paul Sturrock enough for him to want to sign the player on a permanent basis, though he was reluctant to meet Derby's £500,000 asking price. Teale was also believed to be interesting
Leeds United in the 2008–09 pre-season, who would offer £400,000. The
2008–09 season started in similar fashion as he was loaned out to
Barnsley on a month's emergency loan deal, where he played three games. Upon his return to Derby Teale again sporadically appeared. However, with the resignation of Jewell and the appointment of
Nigel Clough, Teale began to get a run in Derby's first eleven earning many accolades, with his form improving to the extent that it prevented a loan move to
Motherwell in the January 2009. He got his second goal for the club, and his first career goal for two years on 7 February 2009 with the opener in a 3–0 victory at
Plymouth Argyle. Such was the upsurgence in his form, he became something of a cult hero amongst the Derby support, earning himself the nickname
Tealinho. Teale opened his goalscoring account for the 2009–10 season with an 87th-minute winner against
Peterborough United and made his 100th appearance for the club as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 win over
Nottingham Forest on 30 January 2010. On 5 May 2010 it was announced that Teale would leave Pride Park after three and a half years when his contract expired. He left Derby on 30 June 2010 with 104 appearances and five goals.
Sheffield Wednesday On 2 July 2010, Teale signed a two-year contract at Sheffield Wednesday and was given the number 21 shirt. He scored his first goal for Sheffield Wednesday against Southport in the FA Cup on 7 November 2010. Three days later he bagged his second goal as Wednesday beat Hartlepool in the Football League Trophy. Teale left Hillsborough by mutual consent on 1 July 2011, and signed a two-year deal with
St Mirren.
St Mirren After Teale left
Hillsborough by mutual consent on 1 July 2011, and signed a two-year deal with St Mirren. Teale scored his first goal for
Saints in a 2–0 victory in a friendly match against
Dumbarton on 12 July 2011. After just 4 minutes
David Barron played a ball over the Dumbarton defence, and Teale lobbed the Dumbarton goalkeeper. Teale was part of the side that won the
2012–13 Scottish League Cup. St Mirren defeated
Heart of Midlothian 3–2 in the
2013 Scottish League Cup Final at
Hampden Park. Teale will be remembered for his great run down the right wing, and cross field pass that allowed
Esmaël Gonçalves to score Saints equalising goal after 37 minutes. On 16 April 2013, it was announced that Teale had signed a new one-year deal with St Mirren, that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2014. After limited appearances during season
2013–14, it was not known if Teale would be offered a new contract. On 13 May 2014 Teale signed a new two-year deal with the club, taking on a
player-coach role to assist newly appointed St Mirren manager
Tommy Craig. He was appointed caretaker manager after Craig was sacked in December 2014. In January 2015, Teale was appointed St Mirren manager on a contract until the end of the 2014–15 season. Teale was relieved of his managerial duties after the final game of the season, as St Mirren appointed
Ian Murray as their new manager on 22 May 2015. On 1 June 2015, Teale left St Mirren by mutual consent, after failing to secure the manager's job on a permanent basis. ==International career==