Smaller proportion of soccer team backing union (6)

I believe the answer is:

offcut

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'smaller proportion' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.

'of soccer team backing union' is the wordplay.
'soccer team' becomes 'fc' (football club).
'backing' is a reversal indicator.
'union' becomes 'tu' (abbreviation for trade union).
'tu' in reverse letter order is 'ut'.
'of'+'fc'+'ut'='OFFCUT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for offcut that I've seen before include "End" , "Remnant for other uses" , "waste material" , "Remnant of material" , "bit of stick?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.