Alan Soutar will stride into an Ally Pally cauldron for the £2.5 million Cazoo World Darts Championship head-to-toe in full Scotland regalia.
The Arbroath darts ace will face chants of ‘Scotland get battered’ from a partisan English crowd as he faces Australian Mal Cuming at Alexandra Palace on Friday.
But ‘Soots’ refuses to even consider dulling down his outfit.
Soots has a vast selection of tartan trousers in his suitcase at London and intends on having fun with the fans before taking to the oche.
That banter will stop as soon as he throws his first dart – bidding to emulate his last 16 Ally Pally exploits of 2021/22.
𝐔𝐍𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄! 😲
Alan Soutar completes a stunning comeback, surviving 𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 match darts, with a magical 144 finish 💥pic.twitter.com/JDRLH3nipt
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) December 23, 2021
“I didn’t expect the crowd to be as anti-Scottish as they were,” Soutar told Courier Sport.
“But you are wearing tartan trousers and a Scotland shirt, in London. It’s going to happen.
“I learned a lesson that I shouldn’t engage too much with the crowd.
“They will be against me for what I’m wearing so I’ve got to be able to handle it.
Tartan trousers
SLANJ KILTS…………..Win a Made-to-order kilt worth £450 in the beautiful TACC tartan. We are also giving away a pair of TACC tartan trousers worth £200 and a TACC T-shirt. @slanjkilts https://t.co/dqP2cJwva8 pic.twitter.com/YWYjI9GkiP
— Alan Soutar (@soots180) December 8, 2022
“Did I consider leaving the tartan trousers at home? No chance!
“We are talking about identities. Michael van Gerwen has got his green shirt identity, Peter Wright wears his hair a certain way.
“I love being Scottish. Slanj in Glasgow supply me with tartan trousers that are fantastic to wear on stage.
“They aren’t too hot and they are my go-to thing for TV events.
“On TV you need to have a bit of personality and to egg yourself up a bit.
“I want Scottish people to connect with me more as I represent them.
“I know what’s coming. It’s going to be wild, it will be a cauldron and a party atmosphere because it’s coming up to Christmas.
“I’m not expecting it to be as brutal as last year. It won’t be because I’ll just switch off and focus on the board.”
Alan Soutar vows to keep it social after Ally Pally
While Soutar will blank the crowd during his games, he’ll never stop engaging with fans on social media.
The Dundee firefighter’s Twitter went into a frenzy after Ally Pally with messages from celebrity sports stars.
But it was the support from closer to home from his beloved Arbroath FC, that struck a chord.
“Before Ally Pally I didn’t use Twitter,” added Soutar.
“I had about seven followers but as soon as I came off stage from the Mensur Suljovic match it was 13.5k.
“It’s not quite David Beckham or Shakira level. But for a normal guy like me, it’s huge.
“I have to keep it real. I don’t want a social media manager and want people to know it’s me they are speaking to.
“There were messages from Andy Robertson, Josh Taylor and John McGinn.
“But the ones that really got me were from the Arbroath lads – Bobby Linn, Nicky Low, Michael McKenna and Dick Campbell.”
