Match official in trouble before leaving the ground (9)
I believe the answer is:
preflight
'leaving the ground' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'match official in trouble' is the wordplay.
'match official' becomes 'ref' (referee).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'trouble' becomes 'plight' (plight can mean trouble or difficulty).
'ref' going inside 'plight' is 'PREFLIGHT'.
'before' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for preflight that I've seen before include "before setting off on journey" , "before anything takes off" , "Before take-off" .)