Character blocking ball by old footballer in decline (4,4,4)
I believe the answer is:
past ones best
'character blocking ball by old footballer in decline' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'character blocking ball by old footballer in decline' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'character' could be 'tone' (tone can mean a character or mood) and 'tone' is located in the answer.
'footballer' could be 'best' (George Best) and 'best' is found within the answer.
'decline' could be 'pass' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'pass' is present in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for past ones best that I've seen is " No longer as strong as one was".)