He played for the Lions in the Malaysia Cup during the 1980s alongside stars such as David Lee, Terry Pathmanathan, S. Anthonysamy, Malek Awab and Borhan Abu Samah.

Salim spent two seasons with Gombak United as their Prime League and senior team coach before he joined National Football Academy for two years in 2009-2010.

In 2012, he replaced R. Balasubramaniam as the head coach of Woodlands Wellington FC,[3] who were seeking to rejuvenate their squad after two disappointing seasons as recipients of consecutive wooden spoons.

Several players from Balestier also followed Salim after his switch to Woodlands, including young midfielders Armanizam Dolah, Shamsurin Abdul Rahman and K. Sathiaraj, as well as custodian Ahmadulhaq Che Omar, who was back with a second stint at the northern club.

[7] Salim made his return to Woodlands Wellington as head coach in June 2014, replacing sacked Darren Stewart.