The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 13 plus 9 letter word WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
W
O
L
V
E
R
H
A
M
P
T
O
N
W
A
N
D
E
R
E
R
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "players" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case players = wolverhampton wanderers.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.