Level match before ref started (4)
I believe the answer is:
tier
'level' is the definition.
('tier' can be a synonym of 'level')
'match before ref started' is the wordplay.
'match' becomes 'tie' (I've seen this before).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'started' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'ref' is 'r'.
'tie'+'r'='TIER'
(Other definitions for tier that I've seen before include "this person secures" , "Plague" , "Rite about layer" , "One of two or more rows" , "Layer, rank" .)