Crossword Genius

Group of footballers – big characters from Tottenham Hotspur – come stripped to work out (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fathom

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'work out' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'group of footballers big characters from tottenham hotspur come stripped' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is present in the answer.
'footballers' could be 'fa' (Football Association abbreviation) and 'fa' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fathom that I've seen before include "Nautical measure of depth" , "Come to understand - unit of depth" , "Understand (something) after much thought" , "Unit of six feet in measuring depth of water" , "Six-foot measure" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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