Alan Soutar is determined to put Arbroath and Scotland on the map as he prepares to make his PDC World Championship darts debut.
Soutar will be live on Sky Sports when he takes on Brazilian Diogo Portela on Sunday for his first ever appearance at Alexandra Palace.
He plans to walk onto the stage in style after packing tartan trousers and a bespoke Scotland shirt that maps out the exact location of his hometown, Arbroath.
Souter, known as Soots, is fiercely proud of his roots.
Having been capped 50 times during his WDF career, winning the 2013 World Cup, he is a patrotic Scot.
The Dundee firefighter is also hugely attached to Arbroath.
He won’t sport a Peter Wright-style spiky haircut in London.
But Soots is determined to put his own mark on Ally Pally.
“I’ve started a thing with tartan trousers,” Soutar told Courier Sport. “They are going on when I’m on TV.
“On the ProTour it’s black trousers and normal stuff. I won’t even bother spiking my hair up for ProTours!
“But I’m really Scottish and proud of my Arbroath roots.
“I played for Scotland 50 times. I really enjoyed playing with Ross Montgomery and we are both passionate Scots.
“There’s no better way to maintain a Scottish identity than my outfit.
“I’ll be wearing tartan breeks, a shirt with a Scotland flag that has a nod to Arbroath.
“It’s great Mission Darts have done that for me and amazing that Jonny Booth from AKA Property Services donated the tartan trousers.”
Arbroath ace Alan Soutar: Ally Pally will be electric
The Ally Pally crowd don't need the music… 🎵
An incredible rendition of 'Don't Look Back in Anger' from the 3,000 strong crowd
What an atmosphere!! pic.twitter.com/0GFWc3Qg1Q
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 20, 2019
Soutar can’t wait to experience the raucous crowd at Alexandra Palace as he prepares for his big stage debut.
His clash with Brazilian star Diogo Portela will be shown live on Sky Sports on Sunday afternoon.
And Soots plans to lap up every second of his World Championship debut.
“Walking out at Ally Pally is going to be electric,” added Soots.
“You need to take it all and do a bit with the crowd before turning the other way and focusing on the job.
Introducing: 𝘼𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙧
We caught up with Alan Soutar to discuss all things starting out in the game, ambitions and memorable moments as we got to know 'Soots' a little better… pic.twitter.com/pqFR95dPK5
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 7, 2021
“I’ve quickly learned you can’t be the class jester or the guy who is milking the crowd.
“At my level you have to focus fully on the darts.
“When I become a better player then I can start engaging with the crowd or being a bit different with them.
“At the Players Championships someone shouted at me when I was going for a double.
“It didn’t put me off but I was aware of it.
“In the big cauldron of Ally Pally you won’t hear individual shouts or noises. It will just be a racket.
“‘Yaya Toure’ will be getting sung every two minutes!
“I’m good at blocking things out and focusing on my job and I’ll go down there to enjoy it and make an impact.”
