Alan Soutar Video Diary: Inspired by Ally Pally saltire, ticket frenzy and military memories at war museum

By Ewan Smith

December 19 2022, 12:38pm

Arbroath ace Alan Soutar is into the third round of the World Darts Championship after wins over Mal Cuming and Daryl Gurney.

Soutar travelled home from London’s Alexandra Palace on Monday to return to his day job as a firefighter at Dundee’s Kingsway East Station.

But he will be back on the Ally Pally stage on December 28th, bidding to confirm his place in the world’s top 32 and dreaming of glory at the £2.5 million elite darts tournament.

Here, in his own, words Soutar describes his last 48 hours in London.

Alan Soutar Diary: Saturday 8.30am

Arrived @ Ally Pally this morning ahead of my Round 2 match against Daryl Gurney………

Another supporter added to the Soots Tartan Army today 😍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎙️🤣🤣🎯#someoneyouloved @LewisCapaldi pic.twitter.com/GjRwRcfFZp

— Alan Soutar (@soots180) December 17, 2022

Like clockwork, my manager Paul wakes me up to two poached eggs on toast. I’m feeling chilled and having a bit of fun with the news that Lewis Capaldi is backing me.

I make a quick photoshop of Lewis next to me outside Alexandra Palace and post it on my social media for a bit of banter.

Saturday 10am

Our taxi arrives at our Airbnb and it’s the same driver we had on Friday. Could he be a lucky omen?

I’m not a particularly superstitious person but I do like to follow a routine and put some proper preparation into my game.

Having a good base where we can chill out away from the darts is critical and it’s important to be surrounded by people who help me switch off.

Paul’s got his tartan trousers on and I’ve picked out my Clark tartan breeks for the Ally Pally stage.

10.30am

We arrive at the venue and I head straight into some Sky Sports media duties.

I do a quick interview then it’s off for a few hours focused practice in the players room with Amanda, Paul and Ally.

I’m feeling really focused and I win the bull throw-off, which means I’ll throw first in my match with Daryl Gurney.

2.45pm

It’s walk-on time and I take to the Ally Pally stage to a few loud choruses of ‘Scotland get battered’.

It’s quite a hostile atmosphere and I can see some English fans mouthing some not so pleasant things at me. But they’ve paid their money and are here for a party so let them boo.

There is also a tiny pocket of Scotland fans here and the sight of a lion rampant and saltire inspires me to take the first set.

3.40pm

Alan Soutar will have more diary pages to write after reaching the third round. Image: PDC

I win the game in straight sets against Daryl after taking out a 160 with two treble 20s and tops.

As I hit the double 20, the Sky TV cameras pan to Amanda and she shows a photo of our first guide dog Quando on her phone.

SOOTS HAS DONE IT AGAIN! 🧑‍🚒🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

THAT IS SUBLIME FROM ALAN SOUTAR! 🔥

The Scot sends Gurney packing, clinching a 3-0 win with a MASSIVE 160 checkout!

What a man, what a player! #WCDarts | R2
📺 https://t.co/37DNuuK5Me pic.twitter.com/aGZ21OBPbm

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 17, 2022

I didn’t know about it until I did an interview later on with German TV and they showed me it on their camera.

Guide dogs are our lives and having Amanda here with me at Ally Pally is really special.

4pm

It’s interview time and I do my second interview on stage before doing the rounds in the media centre.

I discover I’ve moved into 32nd place in the provisional world rankings and that’s crazy. It’s incredible to think how far I’ve come in 22 months as a part-time professional darts player.

🗣 "I've still got to work the night shift on Christmas Day!" 🧑‍🚒

We spoke to Alan Soutar after his incredible whitewash win over Daryl Gurney! pic.twitter.com/LBSJtf0O8u

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 17, 2022

But I don’t want stop there, I want to go higher.

The media ask about my work pattern over Christmas and I tell them I’ll be back on Green Watch duty at Dundee Kingsway East Fire Station on December 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th.

I’ll now be flying back to London on the 27th for my third round match.

7pm-11pm

We head out for a quiet meal before going back to the house to watch the darts and listen to some chill-out music.

I’ve just changed my walk on music back to Bits ‘n’ Pieces and listen to a lot of different tracks on Spotify to see if there are any cool crowd-pleasers. Maybe my new pal Lewis Capaldi can help out?

Alan Soutar has used his Courier Sport diary to keep in touch with his Scotland supporters. Image PDC

Sunday, 10am

Paul has been up half the night looking up flights and accommodation for my third round match.

The ticket requests have been coming in all night and my social media has been going absolutely crazy.

One thing’s for sure, I’ll definitely have a bigger Tartan Army in London after Christmas.

11am-7pm

It’s time for a trip to London and we head to the Imperial War Museum.

It means a lot to me, as an ex-29 Commando to pay my respects to those who serve their country.

And I’m amazed by the collection of medals in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery. There are over 180 VCs up there and the stories behind the medals is incredible.

I’m still in a service and have earned five medals so far. I went to Northern Ireland for six months and served in Kosovo for six months and I have three Jubilee medals – the golden, diamond and platinum ones.

They mean so much to me and thinking of my military days keeps me ground as I continue this Ally Pally adventure.