Three headers from Fleetwood Town old guard compound this dip in new form (3,6,6)
I believe the answer is:
the artful dodger
'this dip in new form' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'three headers from fleetwood town old guard compound' is the wordplay.
'headers from' suggests taking the first letters (I've seen 'header from' mean this).
'compound' is an anagram indicator.
The first letters of 'fleetwood town' is 'ft'.
'three'+'ft'+'old'+'guard'='threeftoldguard'
'threeftoldguard' is an anagram of 'THE ARTFUL DODGER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for the artful dodger that I've seen before include "Gang member" , "Skilful pickpocket" .)