Jack perhaps following champion around on street (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
face card
'jack perhaps' is the definition.
(I know that jack is a type of face card)
'following champion around on street' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'following' could be 'f' (used when citing page numbers etc) and 'f' is found in the answer.
'champion' could be 'ace' (both can mean a person excelling at something) and 'ace' is found within the answer.
'around' could be 'ca' (circa) and 'ca' is present in the answer.
'street' could be 'rd' and 'rd' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for face card that I've seen before include "queen, perhaps" , "Jack for instance" , "King, queen or jack" , "One of 12 in a deck" , "Knave, perhaps" .)