Card revoked over fine finish by Everton's lead footballer (8)
I believe the answer is:
defender
'footballer' is the definition.
(defender is a type of footballer)
'card revoked over fine finish' is the wordplay.
'card' becomes 'red' (red playing card, as opposed to a black one).
'revoked' says the letters should be written in reverse (revoke means to take back).
'over' indicates putting letters inside.
'fine' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'finish' becomes 'ende' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'red' in reverse letter order is 'der'.
'f'+'ende'='fende'
'der' placed around 'fende' is 'DEFENDER'.
'by everton's lead' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
(Other definitions for defender that I've seen before include "Guardian" , "One resisting attack" , "Protector" , "Guard - champion" , "one aiming to retain his title" .)