Land in gym before football game (4)
I believe the answer is:
peru
'land' is the definition.
(Peru is an example)
'gym before football game' is the wordplay.
'gym' becomes 'pe'.
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'football game' becomes 'ru' (short for rugby union, type of rugby football).
'pe'+'ru'='PERU'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for peru that I've seen before include "Mario Vargas Llosa's country" , "S American country, capital Lima" , "Nazca, Cuzco here" , "Andes republic" , "Homeland of Paddington Bear" .)