Perhaps football's special in this place (6)
I believe the answer is:
sphere
'perhaps football's special in this place' is the definition.
'sphere' can be an answer for 'place' (thesaurus). I am not sure about the remainder of the definition.
'special in this place' is the wordplay.
'special' becomes 'sp' (abbreviation).
'in this place' becomes 'here' (synonyms).
'sp'+'here'='SPHERE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sphere that I've seen before include "Orb or globe" , "Ball or field of influence" , "Perfectly round solid geometric figure" , "Ball shape" , "Globe or domain" .)