A chap to exclude, however saintly (5)
I believe the answer is:
alban
'however saintly' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'a chap to exclude' is the wordplay.
'a chap' becomes 'al'.
'to exclude' becomes 'ban' (I've seen this in other clues).
'al'+'ban'='ALBAN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alban that I've seen before include "Saint born at Verulamium" , "early martyr" , "Saint who was first British Christian martyr" , "-- Berg, composer" , "Ancient Scottish kingdom" .)