alan soutar

soots

Soutar admits it’s been a “mad” return to Scotland

By Phil Lanning

ALAN SOUTAR admits it has been “mad” since returning to Scotland after his epic World Championship run.

The red-hot fireman was back at his beloved Arbroath FC to watch their Scottish Cup tie with Darvel as club ambassador yesterday.

Soots, 43, beat Diogo Portela, Mensur Suljovic and Jose De Sousa before finally falling to Callan Rydz in a string of memorable encounters at the Ally Pally.

Now he’s looking forward to being back on the ProTour in a fortnight after watching his home town club beat Darvel 3-0.

He told BBC Scotland : “It’s brilliant to be here, the romance of the cup is a big thing, it pulls a lot of people to Gayfield. To be in the fourth round playing Darvel, it’s a good chance for Arbroath to put a marker down and progress to the next round and get one of the big teams.

“It’s a bit different for me because I’m usually just a fan so it’s nice to be here in hospitality and to bring my sponsors from darts, I’m kind of giving them something back by being here so it’s great.

“I always wear the Arbroath tie and wear the Arbroath colours as much as I can. I’m an Arbroath fan and from Arbroath so I’ll always wear maroon. 

“The messages from manager Dick (Campbell) when I was down there, even the players were sending me messages saying good luck. Everyone was behind me from the club so it’s only right I come back and pay everything back. I kind of feel part of the club now so it’s really amazing.

“I’m back to work and in a fortnight I’m back on the ProTour, so I’ve got to balance the two. It’s nice to be back at Gayfield, it’s been mad since I’ve come home.”

Soutar also admitted that he was an aspiring footballer as a kid but in the end turned to the arrows. 

He added: “I actually played on this pitch in the Watters Cup final, the primary school final. We won 3-1. I’ve also played for the Arbroath lads club. I wasn’t good enough to make the grade of these guys. I had to pick darts, it was a bit easier.

“Dick said I was good enough to be in his first team. But I wouldn’t be as good as this first team!”

Image: BBC Scotland.

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Soutar admitted he wanted to cry after Rydz runs riot

By Phil Lanning

ALAN SOUTAR admitted he wanted to cry because he couldn’t take the World Championship trophy back to Arbroath.

The red-hot Fireman’s fairytale run at the Ally Pally was finally extinguished by Callan Rydz in a 4-1 defeat yesterday afternoon.

Soutar, 43, was the opening set but was then engulfed in a blaze of sensational arrows by the Geordie who reeled off nine legs in a row to seal his quarter-final place. 

Before the match Soots had received a good luck video message from Arbroath boss Dick Campbell. After the defeat, he revealed: “I’m an ambassador for the club so the first home game that I’m not working or at darts I’ll be at Gayfield to speak to Dick and get a wee dram off him like he said.

“I’m gutted I can’t bring the trophy back to Gayfield, it’s OK because Peter Wright or Gary Anderson will bring it back up the road with them, so it’s cool.

“I just want to cry, I’m absolutely gutted. I didn’t turn up today at all. I’m pretty gutted about that.

“I won the first set, I should have just lost the first set like the rest of the games. But I’m just focusing on going back to work and seeing my family and start next year fresh.

“I got absolutely bossed there by Callan, no qualms about that at all.

“I’ve not played well all tournament and I got found out there. Good luck to him in the quarter-finals, he deserves a good run so fair play to him.

“He was brilliant. I was standing at the back thinking I can compete. I wasn’t good enough. 

“It’s been a great learning experience and now I’ve got shifts payback at work so I’ve got to sort that out!

“I’ll be working on January 1 now. I’ve got Hogmanay off so I’ve got a swap for that, I’ll fly back and then night shift on the 1st and 2nd. Back to reality.

“I won’t be quitting my job. Jonny Clayton also has a full-time job but just sticks plaster on walls, I’ve got a hard job!

“If I can’t get any further than this in this tournament then I need a job to back it up. I can’t quit my job.”

Soutar also revealed that he needs to learn from the likes of boo-boy favourite World Champion Gerwyn Price on how to deal with the hostile crowds. 

He added: “I’ve learnt that I’ve got a little bit of bottle. But I knew that anyway. I’ve got to learn to deal with the stage in there. It’s tough, really tough when they are singing against you. 

“Gezzy knows how to deal with it, he performs at his top level still. But I don’t, I struggle out there.

“I’m soaking with sweat. I can feel it running down my back, down my front, my legs, my socks. I’m soaking. 

“I’m just learning. I’m not really friendly with Gezzy, he doesn’t mix with me. If he’s got any words of advice for me, then I’d love to speak to him.

“When you lose you feel really low and down. I’ve now had both feelings, I just go back and process that and try and come back a little bit stronger.

“Everything that has happened this last two weeks has been amazing for me. My profile on social media, profile worldwide has been tremendous. 

“It’s my first year and now I’m sitting 51st in the world, where will I be next year, let’s see.

“I want to be back here of course but it’s a long year. I’ll go back to the ProTour and see what happens.

“I don’t think about trophies, I just think about retaining my tour card. That doesn’t sound very ambitious. But in the first two years I think you need to consolidate what you’ve done. 

“Then you can set in place plans to maybe do a bit better than what you’ve done. I have no targets at all.”

On-fire Soutar thanks backing from Scotland captain Robbo

On-fire Soutar thanks backing from Scotland captain Robbo

By Phil Lanning

ALAN SOUTAR admits that backing from Scotland captain Andy Robertson has fired him up for more Worlds glory.

The Arbroath fireman produced another red-hot display to beat World No.7 Jose De Sousa with an epic 136 finish to win 4-3 at the Ally Pally.

It now means Soots, 43, is into the last 16 of the Championship and will face Callan Rydz on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals.

He revealed: “Scotland captain Andy Robertson has just tweeted me. The hysteria behind all that is just incredible. 

“The backing on social media from Scotland is incredible. I’m on my own on that stage in a cauldron of English fans. It’s a daunting place to be. 

“But when you can go home from a win and go on social media and look at all the nice comments, it’s really pleasing. 

“When you go up there you have got to be focused. If you start thinking about interviews and your hometown, that’s when the wheels fall off.

“But when you win the elation, the feeling that you get for Scotland for me is amazing. 

“It’s amazing to feel the backing from my hometown. My football club are all sending me messages of good luck, congratulations and keep it going. The Arbroath spirit. 

“At the same time I’ve been at work for the last two days so I don’t get caught up in all that. So it’s worked so far.

“When I was at 3-3 in sets I thought I’ve got to swap anyway on the 31st so I might as well win and swap tomorrow. It’s cool, the swaps are covered until the 1st of January.

“I’m not worried about who I face next at all. I don’t fear any of the top players. They’ve got to beat me. End of the story.”

Soutar missed 11 darts at doubles in the first set and lost it to the Portuguese star but fought back to force a last set decider, despite surviving match darts. 

He added: “My hands are absolutely soaking with sweat. People back home don’t understand how nerve-wracking that is and it’s so horrible.

“My emotions are the same, it was kind of the same game as before and a tight finish.

“But in my head I should have been in more control of that. He didn’t turn up at all.

“It’s a fire brigade pun, would hose A or hose B turn up and it was the latter. He didn’t turn up and I’ll take that all day long. 

“After the first set I was beating myself up. I felt that when I came back up on stage for a couple of throws. I needed to get it out of my system, it’s so hard to forget blowing a great chance to go one set up.

“Mensur Suljovic and Jose’s mentality seemed to be exactly the same. You could see him posting a 59, 58 or 57 and he was struggling. 

“I felt in the first set that he was terrible. I kind of felt it when we went backstage. He snatched the first set off me. In the room where you go back to he couldn’t deal with the crowd either, the noise, the atmosphere and the heat. He was struggling and I kind of picked up on that. I thought: ‘Take your chance’.

“Even though he’s World No.7, he’s struggling up there. It is a fairytale. I think someone is looking down on me, especially when they miss match darts. I think maybe it’s just my time.”

Soutar hopes Suljovic bears “the scars” of Fallon defeat

Soutar hopes Suljovic bears “the scars” of Fallon defeat

By Phil Lanning

ALAN SOUTAR is hoping that Mensur Suljovic is still bearing “the scars” of losing to Fallon Sherrock at the Ally Pally.

The Arbroath ace faces the Austrian this afternoon in the second round of the World Championship.

Suljovic has looked vulnerable since losing to the Queen of the Palace two years ago and was involved in a controversial defeat to Gary Anderson 12 months ago on the same stage.

Soutar, 43, said: “I think I can beat him but I’ve not played him before.

“If I turn up and play my UK Open stage game, I can beat him. I’m quite happy that I won and I know there’s more to come.

“I have seen Mensur’s form. I love darts, I look at darts, I watch interviews and what everyone is doing on the tour. I look at the stats, I look at the rankings. I’m aware of what he’s been doing. He’s not been at the Pro Tours as well. 

“It’s pretty obvious he’s not been at the Pro Tours and his form is going to struggle. 

“He had a good World Cup but maybe Rodriguez pulled him through that. Let’s hope that the scars from Fallon two years ago are still sore and he doesn’t play his best against me.”

Soutar squeezed past Diogo Portela on his debut despite getting a lot of stick from the English crowd.

He added: “I enjoy that side of darts. Coming from amateur darts and BDO, the crowd is not like that.

“The whole point of Sky Sports and PDC on the TV is a mega popular watch on TV for that reason alone. 

“I wanted to get involved in it. I’m also aware that I’m here to play darts. I maybe need to knock that back a little bit. 

“I love all that, I love the Scotland v England banter I always have. The crowd went straight for me because of my trousers. I thought ‘oh no what have I done’.

“Do you know what, I’m alright with that. It’s not a Gerwyn Price thing, they are not booing me, they are just engaging and being a bit England-Scotland, which is fine. 

“I was listening to Willie getting it the other night, but he banged in a nine-darter and kept them quiet. 

“Russ Bray said to me on the stage after the second break, he said ‘you’re doing the right thing, you’re keeping them quiet’.

“Willie totally inspired me and Arbroath. Willie’s game was just mad. The stuff that’s happened afterwards for him is amazing for Scottish darts, for him. So for me I was looking up to do the same.

“Obviously you’re not going to repeat that ever. But to do that, cheers Willie for setting me up to try and follow that!

“It’s been a great weekend for Scottish darts and Arbroath being top of the Championship is unreal.

“Me and my wife watched Arbroath down here, it was tremendous. It was a bit scrappy because the weather’s not great in Scotland is it? It wasn’t the best.”

Images by Taylor Lanning.

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Soots ready for Ally Pally with Royal Marines mentality

By Phil Lanning

EXCLUSIVE

ALAN SOUTAR admits that he has the right mentality and a “stone heart” for his Worlds debut after serving in the Royal Marines. 

The red-hot fireman has been one of the biggest stories of the oche this year after reaching the UK Open quarter-finals and qualifying for the World Championship after winning £32k in ranking money.

Arbroath ace Soots, 43, makes his Alexandra Palace debut against Brazilian Diogo Portela on Sunday. But his time as a commando means he is ready for anything on stage. 

The World No.77 revealed: “I was a commando with the Royal Marines. I was more in the peace-keeping forces in the 90s and early 2000s, that was in Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. But we saw quite a lot of horrible stuff, especially in Kosovo.

“But I feel that the fire brigade is a worse scenario because I deal with death a lot more. You are with people, trying to save them.

“A lot of things don’t bother me, I have perspective about what is important in life. I have the right temperament to deal with darts.

“It’s a state of mind. My wife Amanda always says to me that I’m maybe cold and have a stone heart, emotionally. 

“I can just switch off and just play darts, it doesn’t really bother me that it’s Peter Wright or Dave Chisnall, they’re just the same as me. I know they have got higher profiles but I know I can play at a 100 average level. I just need to do it at the right time against these players.

“Now that I’ve had a taste of it and I’ve been in the room and seen everyone, I’m now quite confident going down to these events.”

Soots will play World No.26 and tricky rival Mensur Suljovic if he gets past Portela in a potentially fascinating second round clash. 

He started playing darts from a very early age but also admits that playing at the Ally Pally next week will be a huge dream achieved. 

He added: “My grandparents owned a pub in Arbroath so from a very early age of about six or seven years old, I’ve been playing darts almost my whole life.

“Playing in the PDC is the golden ticket as they say. Maybe in a year’s time we can sit down and assess and see where we are. At the moment I still need to work and play darts.

“I have quite a lot of memorable moments in a short space of time. I did well in the first few ProTours. I beat quite a lot of World Champions, I beat Raymond van Barneveld a couple of times, Peter Wright three times and Chizzy.

“Those kind of wins give you confidence that you are good enough to be in the room. I love darts and John Henderson and Gary Anderson have been big Scottish players for me. 

“I didn’t have any ambition at the start but to qualify for Ally Pally. I’ve played at Lakeside a couple of times, so to play in both World Championships is great. But the PDC one is a big goal. To do well in that and then as we move forward to get into the top 32 in the world. You have to set your target high.”

Images by Taylor Lanning.

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Soutar admits: No sir, he won’t boogie for walk-on

By Phil Lanning
EXCLUSIVE

SIZZLING Alan Soutar will be cheering on Scotland in England but won’t be changing his walk-on tune to new Tartan Army anthem Yes Sir, I Can Boogie!

The red-hot fireman has been one of the biggest stories of the PDC this year after reaching the UK Open quarter-finals and qualifying for the World Championship after winning almost £20k in ranking money.

Now Arbroath ace Soots, 43, embarks on the latest ProTour Super Series in Milton Keynes on Monday with one eye on Steve Clarke’s men.

He said: “I’m especially passionate about the national team. I think Monday is massive for us. That’s the two lesser favoured teams if you like, if we can get something from the Czech Republic, then you never know next Friday!

“We are massive underdogs against England and Croatia. But a win on Monday and then a draw out of one of the other two games and we’ll get through.

“I’m toeing the oche on Monday at 2pm when the game starts. I have to switch off from football and focus on darts, but I’ll check as soon as I can.

“On Friday I’m actually travelling from Milton Keynes to London for one of my sponsors. I have packed my tartan trousers and my Scotland top. I don’t know if I’ll make my flight home!

“The buzz around Scotland and the social media, everything feels amazing. Everyone is coming into work with the retro football shirts on. I just bought the 1982 yellow strip. I love the patriotic nature of Scotland and the fans during a major championship. 

“Obviously the Tartan Army have adopted Yes Sir I Can Boogie as their theme. But I can’t have it as my walk-on for the World Championship because it’s too slow. Also the Ally Pally won’t be full of Scots in London in December. I’m probably changing my walk-on song to fire-related for my job like Disco Inferno by The Trammps.”

Soutar admits that he has the right mentality to deal with his leap into the PDC big time after serving in the military in some of the toughest conditions. 

He added: “I was a commando with the Royal Marines. I was more in the peace-keeping forces in the 90s and early 2000s, that was in Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. But we saw quite a lot of horrible stuff, especially in Kosovo.

“But I feel that the fire brigade is a worse scenario because I deal with death a lot more. You are with people, trying to save them.

“A lot of things don’t bother me, I have perspective about what is important in life. I have the right temperament to deal with darts.

“It’s a state of mind. My wife Amanda always says to me that I’m maybe cold and have a stone heart, emotionally. 

“I can just switch off and just play darts, it doesn’t really bother me that it’s Peter Wright or Dave Chisnall, they’re just the same as me. I know they have got higher profiles but I know I can play at a 100 average level. I just need to do it at the right time against these players.”

Soutar remains super-cool about his progress and it will be new era for him in Milton Keynes with his own Mission Darts.

He added: “My management have crunched the numbers and looked at the FDI Index and they talked about 10 grand being the qualifying mark for the World Championship in years gone by and obviously past that.

“To be honest I like to play things down but in the back of your mind you want to push yourself as far as you can.

“Now that I’ve had a taste of it and I’ve been in the room and seen everyone, I’m now quite confident going down to these events.

“It will be different this week. I have just changed to my new Mission Darts. This is a new thing for me. For 25 or 30 years I’ve played with Steve Beaton’s darts. I’ve changed two or three times when Steve has changed.

“But these are my new darts designed for me. I’ve been practising really well, so I’m happy and there’s nothing negative in my head for Monday.

“I obviously am looking for a top 64 place, that’s the first milestone if you like. 

“But the World Matchplay is the next major. I would need a monumental effort to get into that, win a ProTour and get £10,000 on my rankings to close the gap. I’m not a million miles away but it would take something very special. 

“My modest goal is to catch Lisa Ashton. I’m 79th in the rankings, she is 78th. It’s one place above and £2,000. Obviously you want to be as high as you can, but I will take one place at a time.”

Images by Taylor Lanning.