Footballer may take the prize before the start of the game (4)
I believe the answer is:
wing
'footballer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'take the prize before the start of the game' is the wordplay.
'take the prize' becomes 'win' (I've seen this in another clue).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the start of' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'game' is 'g'.
'win'+'g'='WING'
'may' is the link.
(Other definitions for wing that I've seen before include "Flying part" , "Chicken portion" , "Projecting part of bird or aircraft" , "Feathered limb used in flying" , "Flying organ" .)