The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 13 letter word BODY‑CHECKING
B
O
D
Y
â
€
‘
C
H
E
C
K
I
N
G
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Footballer’s foul play" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case footballer’s foul play = body‑checking.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.