Gets down to the job, as the footballer does
I believe the answer is:
tackles
'gets down to the job as' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'footballer does' is the wordplay.
'footballer' becomes 'tackle' (tackle is a kind of footballer).
'does' becomes 's' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'tackle'+'s'='TACKLES'
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for tackles that I've seen is " Gets stuck into".)