New players breaking real ground for City (9)
I believe the answer is:
lancaster
'city' is the definition.
(Lancaster is an example)
'new players breaking real ground' is the wordplay.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'players' becomes 'cast' (group of actors).
'breaking' indicates putting letters inside.
'ground' is an anagram indicator ('grind' the letters into a new form).
'n'+'cast'='ncast'
'real' anagrammed gives 'laer'.
'ncast' placed within 'laer' is 'LANCASTER'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for lancaster that I've seen before include "city on the Lune" , "WW2 bomber; city" , "county town" , "old house" , "John of Gaunt?" .)