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.