Footballer put off allows goal in (8)
I believe the answer is:
defender
'footballer' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'put off allows goal in' is the wordplay.
'put off' becomes 'defer' (synonyms).
'allows goal' becomes 'end' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'defer' placed around 'end' is 'DEFENDER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for defender that I've seen before include "Guardian" , "One who takes up the cause of another" , "Centre half, perhaps" , "one aiming to retain his title" , "One who protects from danger or takes one's side" .)