Crossword Genius

Female cats on English football team? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lionesses

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cats on english football team?' is the definition.
'lionesses' can be an answer for 'cats' (lioness is a kind of cat). I am unsure of the 'on english football team?' bit.

'female' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'female' could be 'lioness' (I have seen 'Feline female ' mean 'lioness' so perhaps 'female' could also mean 'lioness') and 'lioness' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'es' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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