He was named on the PFA Scotland Team of the Year for the second time after Hearts won the Scottish League Two title at the end of the 2021–22 season and left the club the following summer.
[7] He played for Airdrie in the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup at McDiarmid Park, helping his new club to beat Ross County on penalties to claim their first trophy.
[13] However, Athletic were relegated straight back out of the SPL in 2011–12, despite a late managerial change in putting Jim Jefferies in charge at East End Park.
[15] On 31 March 2013, he joined Raith Rovers until the end of the season, after manager Grant Murray acted quickly to beat the player registration deadline.
[18] He played in the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup at Easter Road as Rovers beat Rangers 1–0 in extra time to claim his second winners medal in the competition.
[19] Cardle signed a one-year deal with Scottish Premiership club Ross County in May 2014 as manager Derek Adams felt that he was "an out and out winger... very creative and direct which will suit our style of play.
[22] After appearing and scoring for now League One side Dunfermline Athletic as a trialist against Berwick Rangers, Cardle re-signed for his former club in July 2015.
[27] However, after appealing against referee Andrew Dallas' decision on the basis that there was no actual contact with Ayr player Peter Murphy, the card was rescinded.
[34] He ended the 2017–18 campaign with ten goals in 34 appearances as Allan Johnston's Dunfermline qualified for the play-offs with a fourth-place finish, going to lose to Dundee United at the quarter-final stage.
[36] After 10 years playing in Scotland, Cardle returned to England in July 2018, signing for National League club AFC Fylde on a two-year deal.
[37][38] He scored two goals in 17 appearances for the "Coasters", however, he left the club on 6 November; manager Dave Challinor said that this was because the player was unsettled after his wife and children were unable to relocate from Scotland.
[39] On 4 January 2019, Cardle signed a deal with Partick Thistle to keep him at the Firhill Stadium until the end of the 2018–19 season after training with Gary Caldwell's side for some weeks.
[45] Cardle complained that Thistle were only two points behind Queen of the South with a game in hand, saying "the whole thing just doesn't feel right... Partick are too big a club to be relegated into League One and we believe we would have prevented it happening".
[49] Partick Thistle went on to win promotion as League One champions at the first attempt, with Cardle rounding off the scoring of the title-clinching 5–0 victory over Falkirk on 29 April.
[51] On 31 July, he became the first player to score for Kelty Hearts in the Scottish Professional Football League, in a 2–0 win over Cowdenbeath at New Central Park.
[52] Kevin Thomson's Hearts won the division by a 21 points margin, with Cardle scoring 16 goals and providing 10 assists in 46 games.