Footballer carries ball quietly in race (6)
I believe the answer is:
people
'race' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'footballer carries ball quietly' is the wordplay.
'footballer' becomes 'pele' (Brazilian footballer Pele).
'carries' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters carried inside).
'ball' becomes 'o' (O looks like a ball).
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'o'+'p'='op'
'pele' enclosing 'op' is 'PEOPLE'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for people that I've seen before include "country folk" , "Humankind" , "Newspaper" , "Nation" , "Persons in general" .)