Football clothing starts to excite strikers and wingers (5)
I believe the answer is:
kites
'wingers' is the definition.
(kite is a type of bird)
'football clothing starts to excite strikers' is the wordplay.
'football clothing' becomes 'kit' (football kit).
'starts to' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'excite strikers' is 'es'.
'kit'+'es'='KITES'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for kites that I've seen before include "They're flown in the wind at the end of a string" , "More than one toy" , "aircraft" , "Birds of prey - flying toys" , "Aerial toys; birds" .)