[3][4] Sale made his début in professional rugby league for home town club Leigh at the age of 20.
He played nine games for the club before competitive rugby league was suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Sale played, and was captain in Widnes' 0-19 defeat by Warrington in the 1949–50 Challenge Cup Final during the 1949–50 season at Wembley Stadium, London, in front of a crowd of 94,249.
He was also coach of Liverpool City in the late 1950s.He was influential in the signing of player-coach Alex Murphy, who went on to lead the team to a Challenge Cup final win in 1971.
[5] Sale was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to rugby league.