Close to wish for inclusion in first-class team (9)
I believe the answer is:
alongside
'close to' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'wish for inclusion in first-class team' is the wordplay.
'wish' becomes 'long' (I've seen this in other clues).
'for inclusion in' indicates putting letters inside.
'first-class' becomes 'A' (as in A-list, A-team etc).
'team' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team).
'a'+'side'='aside'
'long' going within 'aside' is 'ALONGSIDE'.
(Other definitions for alongside that I've seen before include "Aligned so as to be close to pier" , "Parallel to" , "Bordering" , "Adjacent to" , "Age-old sin (anag.)" .)