Release United fan finally before match (5)
I believe the answer is:
untie
'release' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'united fan finally before match' is the wordplay.
'united' becomes 'u'.
'finally' suggests the final letters.
'before match' becomes 'tie' (I've seen this before. I am not sure about the 'before' bit.**).
The final letter of 'fan' is 'n'.
'u'+'n'+'tie'='UNTIE'
(Other definitions for untie that I've seen before include "Remove fastenings from" , "Take off fastenings" , "Separate" , "Release (knots)" , "Unite (anag)" .)