Jon Cook reckons Eastbourne were the only track willing to take a chance on a young hothead called Nicki Pedersen when he was sacked by his old club.

That was eight years ago. On Monday, the three-times world champion will return as a hero when he rides at Arlington for the first time since 2007.

Pedersen is back in the Elite League after three years in exile and comes to East Sussex when his current track Peterborough make their only league visit of the season.

Eagles’ need for points after their home slip-up against King’s Kynn makes this an intriguing meeting in its own right.

But it is one which many fans will have mentally ringed in red from the moment it became clear Peterborough, and Pedersen, were back in the league.

The brilliant Dane was a massive favourite at Arlington after arriving in July 2003. Some fans still wear items of Pedersen merchandise around the terraces.

“The season was going nowhere,” said Cook, the man who signed Pedersen for Eagles.

“We had the opportunity to bring him in because he had been sacked by Oxford.

“From a personal point of view he was a rider I had no time for. But we brought him in and, with a heavy heart, released Joe Screen who had been a hero for us when we won the league.

“From the first moment, on a personal level, me and Nicki hit it off.

“He became a legend at Eastbourne but he is always only one step away from being the pantomime villain.

“At the time he was sacked by Oxford, I don’t think anybody wanted to touch him. He had a terrible reputation but in many ways that was an attraction.

“I knew the rider had so much ability and I wanted to see if we could harness that at our place.

“He won two world championships while he was at Eastbourne. British speedway helped him win those and Eastbourne helped him on the small, technical tracks.

“When people look back at the history of Eastbourne speedway, I think the fact the club had such a mega star of the modern age on their books for so long is overlooked.”

Pedersen felt the Eastbourne experience was good for him. He said: “I needed a bit of a kick at the time. I got a bit down riding for Oxford and I needed that change.

“I can’t say anything bad about Eastbourne. They treated me well and I did the business.

“It’s one of those tracks I didn’t like to start with when I came down but I ended up being pretty good.

“The fact I left was down to Eastbourne. Martin Hagon had come in as promoter and he had the idea of having British riders.

“I didn’t really know whether I wanted to ride in England or not.

“I wasn’t asked so I felt ‘if they don’t want me, make the change now’. I’ve no bad feelings about what happened. At the time it worked well for me.”

Pedersen spent three seasons out of the Elite League, concentrating on Polish and Swedish leagues, and won the a third world title in 2008. But now he is glad to be back.

He said: “I’ve done more meetings this year and that has been good for me in the GP. It’s still very hard to say how Peterborough will do this season. We haven’t ridden that many meetings.

“The Elite League is not as strong as it used to be when there were more GP riders. But you’ve still got to ride different tracks. You go away and there are always some fantastic home track riders.”

Fans will see Pedersen the gater and, if necessary, Pedersen the racer on Monday. They might see a flashpoint or two as well.

They will also see one of the sport’s few real stars of recent times and, Cook says, a misunderstood character.

The current Lakeside boss said: “I had no problems with Nicki. There were a couple of occasions when we were out socially which would surprise you.

“I remember one time standing outside a kebab shop in the early hours having a laugh and a joke.

“He’s a much maligned character. He’s a really good bloke and we had many laughs along the way “At the same time he has got that thing of the modern age where he oozes star quality.

“Apart from the Poles, him and Andreas Jonsson are the only riders you can say that about.

“He has that slight air of aloofness when he is working. We now have him back in English racing and it looks like Emil Sajfutdinov is going to Coventry.

“It’s such an exciting prospect for British speedway.”