An outside-left who set up many of Ted Calland’s goals in 1958/59 Gordon Dale played for Exeter City between 1957 and 1961. He joined the club from Portsmouth and later played for Chelmsford. He had earlier moved from Chesterfield to top-flight Portsmouth for a £20,000 fee in 1951 where he proved to be a popular player in a city where he was to spend most of the rest of his life.

He began his Football League career in February 1948 when Chesterfield paid a fee of £500 to Worksop Town for his services. He quickly established himself as a first-team player and went on to make 92 league appearances scoring three goals. In July 1951 Portsmouth signed him for £20,000 - a record receipt for Chesterfield at the time - and he was to score 18 goals in 114 league outings for the Fratton Park club.

Exeter City parted with £5,000 in signing Gordon in October 1957, a fugure that was reported as £7,000 contrary to what appeared in the club's accounts. Making his debut at Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic in a 2-1 defeat, he proved to be a hugely-successful signing as he made 31 appearances in what remained of 1957/58 followed by 41, 26 and 26 in the following seasons. Never a regular goalscorer, his best return for Exeter came in 1959/60 when he scored on five occasions in league fixtures. Always a popular fugure during his time with the club, Gordon became fondly-remembered for his part in helping Ted Calland score 27 times in 1958/59.

Entering his early thirties, Gordon was one of a number of players who left Exeter at the end of the 1960/61 season and he soon signed for Chelmsford City. Upon retirement from football he opened a newsagents and tobacconist in Portsmouth where he died in 1996.