As a player, he made 636 appearances as a defender from 1977 until 1998, notably in the Premier League with West Ham United and Blackburn Rovers, where he won the title in 1995.

Gale narrowly missed out on promotion to the First Division during the 1982–83 season, with Fulham finishing in fourth place and a single point behind Leicester City.

When playing in the 1991 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest, Gale became the first-ever footballer in the English game to be shown a straight red card for denying an attacker a goal-scoring opportunity with a professional foul.

[5] After bringing down Gary Crosby in the 22nd minute, Gale's single career dismissal by Keith Hackett was deemed as unfair by West Ham fans as they suffered a 4–0 defeat to Forest and missed out on their chances of a first FA Cup final since 1980.

In 1993, West Ham returned to the top tier of English football, now rebranded as the Premier League, and finished in 13th during Gale's final season with the club.

[3] Joining on 11 August, he made his debut three days later in the 1994 Charity Shield, suffering a 2–0 defeat to Manchester United after goals from Eric Cantona and Paul Ince.

Spending a single season at Ewood Park, Gale made 15 appearances in the club's 1994–95 Premier League winning campaign and clinched the only major honour of his playing career aged 35.

[3] Despite being asked by newly appointed manager Ray Harford to remain with the club for a second season, Gale opted against a coaching role while playing for the reserves.

However, his time at Selhurst Park was plagued with injuries and he managed just two league appearances for the club halfway through that season, and retired from professional football at the end of it.