As a youth player he spent time training with Davie Cooper, who Teale felt had a major influence on his development and career.

[6] 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.

"[13] 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.

[4] He made his debut a day later against Oldham Athletic and scored his first goal for the club on 19 February 2002 in a 3–1 win against Notts County.

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'[17] 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.

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,[20] with his form improving to the extent that it prevented a loan move to Motherwell in the January 2009.

[22] 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.

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 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.

[30] 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.

[31] On 1 June 2015, Teale left St Mirren by mutual consent, after failing to secure the manager's job on a permanent basis.

[9] Teale's performances for Wigan earned him a call-up to the Scotland national football team for the first time in 2004, but was forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury.

In 2008, he was called up to George Burley's first Scotland squad alongside fellow on loan Plymouth player Russell Anderson.