The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 3 letter word FRONT ROW
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
F
R
O
N
T
R
O
W
More clues leading to the result FRONT ROW
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "In which one may see prop forward" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case in which one may see prop forward = front row.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.