English clubs look into female division (7)
I believe the answer is:
echelon
'division' is the definition.
'english clubs look into female' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'clubs' becomes 'c' (abbreviation used in card games such as bridge).
'look' becomes 'lo'.
'into' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'female' becomes 'hen' (hen is a kind of female).
'lo' placed within 'hen' is 'helon'.
'e'+'c'+'helon'='ECHELON'
(Other definitions for echelon that I've seen before include "Military stepped formation" , "position in society" , "Tier" , "Military formation; level of society" , "Level or rank of authority, upper or lower" .)