Hooligans attempted to switch sides (6)

I believe the answer is:

toughs

'hooligans attempted' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'to switch sides' is the wordplay.
'switch sides' becomes 'ughs' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to'+'ughs'='TOUGHS'

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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