Time when a football coach is out for an early start (5)
I believe the answer is:
seven
'an early start' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'time when a football coach is out' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'time' could be 'even' (I have seen 'time of day' mean 'even' so perhaps 'time' could also mean 'even') and 'even' is present in the answer.
A single letter 's' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for seven that I've seen before include "Number of colours of the rainbow" , "Cube root of 343" , "Theme of exotic dance" , "Wonders of the World - Deadly Sins" , "So many ages of man (AYLI)" .)