Clubs banished from prisons for quite some time (4)
I believe the answer is:
ages
'quite some time' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'clubs banished from prisons' is the wordplay.
'clubs' becomes 'c' (abbreviation used in card games such as bridge).
'banished from' suggests deleting specific letters.
'prisons' becomes 'cages' (cage is a kind of prison).
'cages' with 'c' taken away is 'AGES'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ages that I've seen before include "Historic periods or prolonged time" , "Indefinitely long time" , "Donkey's years" , "Historical eras" , "(What seems) a very long time" .)