Alan Soutar

Alan Soutar (born 10 January 1978) is a Scottish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. A PDC Tour Card holder since 2021, Soutar won his first PDC title at 2024 Players Championship 11. He reached his first major quarter-final at the 2022 Grand Slam. His best World Championship performance is reaching the last 16 in consecutive years: 2022 and 2023.

Soutar previously participated in British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments, twice reaching the last 16 at the World Masters in 2016 and 2017.

Career

Soutar started playing darts as a teenager in the pub his grandparents ran.^[2] He plays in a saltire shirt and tartan pants, in tribute to his Scottish heritage.^[3]

BDO

In November 2011 Soutar won the Bellrock Open. He qualified for the 2011 BDO World Darts Championship, he played Willy van de Wiel in the first round and lost 3–1 in sets. In 2013 he won the 2013 WDF World Cup as part of Team Scotland.^[4] He qualified for the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship through the Hull qualifiers before losing to Craig Caldwell in the preliminary round.^[5]

PDC

In February 2021, Soutar secured a two-year PDC Tour Card at UK Qualifying School.^[6] He made his televised PDC debut with a first round defeat of Raymond van Barneveld in the 2021 UK Open before falling to Dave Chisnall in the last 16.

In December 2021, Soutar made his debut at the PDC World Championship, where he defeated Diogo Portela in the first round in the deciding set. In the following two rounds, Soutar knocked out two seeds, Mensur Suljović and José de Sousa, each time in the deciding set having survived match darts from his opponent. Soutar's run to the last 16 was finally ended by Callan Rydz in a 1–4 defeat.^[7]

In 2022, Soutar made his debut as a qualifier for the Grand Slam of Darts, where he advanced from his group ahead of reigning World Champion Peter Wright after victories over Fallon Sherrock and Nathan Aspinall. In the round of 16, Soutar defeated ninth-ranked Jonny Clayton to reach the quarter final^[8] where he was defeated by eventual runner-up Nathan Aspinall.^[9] At the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship, Soutar reached the fourth round again after whitewashing Mal Cuming and Daryl Gurney 3–0 in sets. His run proceeded with a win over Danny Noppert before being defeated by Gabriel Clemens.^[10]

In June 2024, Soutar won a first PDC title at PC11 in Hildesheim, defeating Daryl Gurney in the final.^[11][12]

Personal life

Soutar joined the Army Cadet Force at the age of 13 and spent nine years as a commando in the British Army,^[13] during which he was deployed to Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Northern Ireland.^[2]

Away from darts, Soutar is a firefighter and trains guide dogs in his home with partner Amanda.^[13] He took part in the 2026 London Marathon in support of Guide Dogs UK, completing the race in four hours and seventeen minutes.^[14] Soutar is a keen supporter of his local football team Arbroath F.C.^[15] In 2012, he set up the Angus Darts Academy, training children in how to play darts.^[2] He won the "Sporting Volunteer of the Year" award at the Finding Scotland's Real Heroes award in 2013 for his mentorship in darts.^[16]

World Championship results

BDO

• 2011: First round (lost to Willy van de Wiel 1–3)
• 2016: Preliminary round (lost to Craig Caldwell 1–3)

PDC

• 2022: Fourth round (lost to Callan Rydz 1–4)
• 2023: Fourth round (lost to Gabriel Clemens 1–4)
• 2025: First round (lost to Kai Gotthardt 1–3)
• 2026: Second round (lost to Gian van Veen 1–3)

Performance timeline

BDO

PDC

PDC European Tour

PDC Players Championships

Notes

1. ^ A non-ranked event until 2025

References

1. ^ "Alan Soutar player profile". Professional Darts Players Association
2. ^ Smith, Ewan (2021-04-24). "How life in a warzone prepared Dundee firefighter Alan Soutar for top-level darts". The Courier. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
3. ^ Smith, Tyrone (15 December 2022). "PDC World Darts Championship: Alan Soutar focuses on form over showmanship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
4. ^ Arbroath player Alan Soutar seals Scotland's World Cup of Darts team title. The Courier
5. ^ BDO World Darts Championships 2016: Draw and schedule
6. ^ Allen, Dave (17 February 2021). "Koltsov & Mitchell enjoy Day Four wins as 2021 Q Schools conclude". PDC. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
7. ^ Elder, Matthew (30 December 2021). "Alan Soutar remains upbeat after fairytale PDC World Championship run ends with defeat to Callan Rydz". The Scotsman
8. ^ "Grand Slam of Darts: Michael van Gerwen wins epic battle vs nine-dart Josh Rock as Jonny Clayton is shocked by Alan Soutar". Sky Sports. 18 November 2022.
9. ^ Gorton, Josh (19 November 2022). "Humphries dumps out Van Gerwen to storm through to Grand Slam Semis". www.pdc.tv. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
10. ^ Wellens, Megan (30 December 2022). "World Darts Championship: Michael Smith shows class to knock out Joe Cullen as Gabriel Clemens makes history with win over Alan Soutar". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
11. ^ "PDC Darts: Stephen Bunting hits epic nine-darter as Alan Soutar wins maiden tour title". Sky Sports. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
12. ^ "Spirited Soutar wins maiden PDC title in Hildesheim". www.pdc.tv. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
13. ^ Jack, Chris (10 December 2022). "The many faces of Alan Soutar". The National. pp. M36. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
14. ^ Amoye, Favour (29 April 2026). "Alan Soutar: Scottish darts star completes charity marathon run". Darts Planet TV. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
15. ^ Gorton, Josh (29 December 2021). "World Darts Championship: Firefighter Alan Soutar lighting up Alexandra Palace on debut". Sky Sports. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
16. ^ Strachan, Graeme (20 January 2017). "Angus young guns go back to the dart board in a bid to be the next Lakeside star". The Courier. Retrieved 22 August 2025.