Footballer recalled — hard worker I'll always remember (8)
I believe the answer is:
elephant
'i'll always remember' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'footballer recalled hard worker' is the wordplay.
'footballer' becomes 'pele' (Brazilian footballer Pele).
'recalled' says the letters should be written in reverse (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'hard' becomes 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'pele' in reverse letter order is 'elep'.
'elep'+'h'+'ant'='ELEPHANT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for elephant that I've seen before include "Trunk on one" , "Pachyderm hunted for ivory" , "Get this animal from Pat and Helen" , "Large land mammal" , "The animal that never forgets" .)