Football team in very unfortunate article (5)
I believe the answer is:
villa
'football team' is the definition.
(Aston Villa FC)
'very unfortunate article' is the wordplay.
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
'unfortunate' becomes 'ill' (similar in meaning).
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'v'+'ill'+'a'='VILLA'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for villa that I've seen before include "Roman domicile" , "Midlands football team" , "Ancient Roman's country house" , "Detached house" , "Roman or suburban house" .)