Skill of footballers succeeding (7)
I believe the answer is:
passing
I believe this is a double definition.
'skill of footballers' is the first definition.
'succeeding' is the second definition.
(passing is a kind of succeeding)
(Other definitions for passing that I've seen before include "Ephemeral" , "Overtaking" , "Casual - death" , "Short-lived - death" .)