Crossword Genius

Persons who put a great footballer out of work (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

people

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'persons who put a great' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'footballer out of work' is the wordplay.
'footballer' becomes 'pele' (Brazilian footballer Pele).
'out of' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters on the outside of others).
'work' becomes 'op' (common abbreviation for 'opus').
'pele' going around 'op' is 'PEOPLE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for people that I've seen before include "Community" , "Mortals" , "Race - mankind" , "Humans in general" , "country folk" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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