From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfootballerfoot‧bal‧ler /ˈfʊtbɔːlə $ -bɒːlər/ ●○○ noun [countable] British English DSFsomeone who plays football, especially a professional player SYN soccer player American English
Examples from the Corpus
footballer• Although Hampden Babylon will be distrusted by managers, administrators, footballers and agents, it has been written from inside football.• So, do tomboyish girls, and footballers have very long ring fingers?• Even third division footballers don't have those curly bits at the back any more, but Shilton and Keegan still do.• Most boys and girls dream of being famous footballers, ballerinas or actresses.• Proprietor is an ex-Hibernian footballer and this bar buzzes with personalities on match day.• After all, rugby union has been the poor footballer brother to rugby league in Sydney for decades.• Read in studio A murder inquiry's under way after the death of a young footballer. 