Source of power for southern players (5)
I believe the answer is:
steam
'source of power' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'southern players' is the wordplay.
'southern' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'players' becomes 'team' (sports team).
's'+'team'='STEAM'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for steam that I've seen before include "Old-fashioned power" , "A lot of hot air" , "Source of energy" , "Like old radio" , "Form of water" .)