Bit of a yarn about football is close to the bone (8)
I believe the answer is:
ligament
'bone' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
(Other definitions for ligament that I've seen before include "Band of tissue joining bones" , "Fibrous tissue joining bones or cartilage" , "What footballer may damage" , "Joint connector" , "it's the physical bond" .)