Crossword Genius

Athletic team's possible cause of food poisoning? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

oldham

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'athletic team's' is the definition.
(Oldham Athletic is a football team)

'possible cause of food poisoning?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'cause' could be 'ham' (ham is a kind of cause) and 'ham' is found in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is present in the answer.
'food' could be 'd' (D is an example) and 'd' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'l' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for oldham that I've seen before include "Northern town" , "Pennine town in Greater Manchester" , "Town NE of Manchester, Churchill once its MP" , "Town north-east of Manchester" , "Town near Manchester" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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