The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word LIVERPOOL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
L
I
V
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R
P
O
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L
More clues leading to the result LIVERPOOL
- Meat reserve supplies seaport
- Port Vale disheartened to be involved in ultimately brutal Irish game
- Footballers can spin with wrong turns
- Lord, the PM’s active on Right Bank!
- Organ fund for refurbishing of port
- Organ and wind backing that’s associated with the Beatles
- Royal fund backs rise of corrupt City
- Organ fund
- Cathedral city‘s organ fund
- Penny loves being inspired by organ lessons primarily in city
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Footballers" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case footballers = liverpool.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.