Clubs cutting footwear leads to malicious talk (7)
I believe the answer is:
scandal
'malicious talk' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'clubs cutting footwear' is the wordplay.
'clubs' becomes 'c' (abbreviation used in card games such as bridge).
'cutting' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters cut their way into a word).
'footwear' becomes 'sandal' (sandal is a kind of footwear).
'c' going into 'sandal' is 'SCANDAL'.
'leads to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for scandal that I've seen before include "Dishonour" , "something injurious to one's reputation" , "Rumour, gossip" , "Malicious talk; outrage" , "Public disgrace" .)