The darts star will be working shifts in between his matches at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace and his day job is no easy ride
Day five of the World Darts Championship concluded on Monday evening, featuring top-tier players such as Peter Wright and Jonny Clayton at Alexandra Palace.
While elite competitors like these dedicate their lives entirely to the sport, other participants balance full-time careers alongside their sporting ambitions. Alan Soutar exemplifies this dual commitment, preparing to face Teemu Harju on Tuesday night. The 47-year-old Scotsman only turned professional four years ago and now finds himself competing in darts’ most prestigious tournament.
A devoted Scotland football supporter, Soutar must fit his World Championship matches around his firefighting duties. He has become a familiar face at the tournament following impressive last-16 runs in 2022 and 2023, and memorably struck a nine-darter against Luke Littler two years back.
His remarkable journey has captivated the sporting community, with the Dundee native maintaining his work commitments throughout the festive period between matches. “I’m just going to go home and chill out for Christmas,” he quipped last year after defeating Daryl Gurney.
“I’m on a day shift the 23rd, day shift the 24th, night shift Christmas night, night shift Boxing night and then travel back down here on the 27th. Nice and easy, a chilled out schedule!”
Discussing how his bosses granted him time off for the major tournament, he explained: “My work have been great with me by giving me these four days off to be. It was meant to be my shift today.
“As long as the fire brigade are all right with what I’m doing and I pay the guys back when I need to pay them back… I owe quite a few of the guys quite a few days.”
Reflecting on his professional status, Soutar also revealed to the Weekly Dartscast: “I’m not professional, I’m just a part time player. To come out of that room as the winner, it was amazing, really amazing.”
As a massive football enthusiast, Soutar was thrilled to receive an invitation to visit the national squad before Euro 2024 last summer and enjoy a game of darts with some of the country’s top stars.
“It was great to be involved with the guys and they’ve all followed me on Twitter (X) and when I play at the Ally Pally and that,” he said.
“So to speak to them that way was like ‘Wow’, because we obviously look up to them as a national team.”
Soutar has banked an impressive £300,000 in career prize money and sits at number 54 in the Werner Rankings Ladder. His challenger this week is Harju, who recently triumphed at the inaugural PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship in October.