‘ Special One’ recruits Doherty’s left and Bale’s right foot (7)
I believe the answer is:
spondee
'foot' is the definition.
(type of metrical foot in poetry)
'special one recruits doherty's left' is the wordplay.
'special' becomes 'sp'.
'recruits' indicates putting letters inside.
'doherty's left' becomes 'de' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'one' enclosing 'de' is 'ondee'.
'sp'+'ondee'='SPONDEE'
'and bale's right' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spondee that I've seen before include "bit of verse" , "No speed required for poetic metrical foot" , "Metric foot of two long syllables" .)