Football team in very evil article (5)
I believe the answer is:
villa
'football team' is the definition.
(Aston Villa FC)
'very evil article' is the wordplay.
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
'evil' becomes 'ill' (as in doing people ill).
'article' becomes 'a' (English indefinite article).
'v'+'ill'+'a'='VILLA'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for villa that I've seen before include "Holiday residence" , "Roman domicile" , "Type of house" , "Country house in Italy or France" , "Roman or suburban house" .)