Crossword Genius

Man's familiar following in the field of football (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

united

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'familiar following in the field of football' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'man's' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'man' could be 'ted' (Ted is a man's name) and 'ted' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'uni' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for united that I've seen before include "Manchester _____, current Premiership champions with..." , "... we stand, divided we fall" , "Untied, being allied" , "Unified" , "Merged into one" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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