Darts star Alan Soutar has posted a photo of his 'real job' after competing in two exhibition tournaments over the weekend.
World number 47 Soutar, from Scotland, secured his tour card in 2021 and has enjoyed some significant successes as a PDC professional, including a quarter-final appearance at the Grand Slam in 2023.
He lifted his first PDC title in 2024 by winning the Players Championship 11 event in Hildesheim, Germany, defeating Daryl Gurney in the final.
The 47-year-old is a popular figure on the circuit - particularly as he works full-time as a firefighter in Arbroath when he is not playing darts.
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Posting a picture of himself in front of a fire truck at Arbroath Fire Station on Monday, he wrote on Facebook: "Two fantastic exhibitions over the weekend. Both crowds were amazing, thank you for the support! What a team I have on my side.
"Now back to the real job."
Alongside his firefighting duties and his darts, Soutar is also a volunteer puppy raiser for Guide Dogs Scotland.
'Soots' told BBC Sport in 2021: "It just happened on social media that we saw an open day in Forfar for Guide Dogs Scotland and said, 'Do you fancy going?'
"So we went, not really knowing what we were going to, and they bring all the puppies out, all the Andrex puppies running about, and that's you hooked in.
"We signed up that day, went through all the checks, they came back good, and then before you knew it, it was only two weeks down the line and we had a guide dog puppy.
"Once they've passed training they're going to be a guide dog, and they're then to be the eyes for a blind person or a partially-sighted person. So that side of it is amazing. The feeling you get from that... yeah, success at darts is great, but it's an individual thing. The guide dog thing, it branches off into you helping more than just yourself."
Soutar had played darts on an amateur basis since he was a teenager, but it was only in 2021 when he decided to enter UK Q-School and attempt to win a PDC tour card.
He previously competed in the BDO World Championship in 2011, and won the BDO World Cup representing Scotland in 2013.
Soutar turned down an offer from fellow Scot Gary Anderson to make the PDC switch several years before his 2021 attempt due to his firefighting job.
He explained that he had 'learnt a lot more' in the years since and felt ready 'for a crack at the PDC proper'.
Speaking to DartsNews after winning his PDC tour card, he explained: "I've played darts for a long time. My grandparents owned a pub in my local town so I've always been around the boozer playing darts. I've played a lot of league, superleague and county darts over a long period of time.
"It was a difficult one [playing in Q-School] because there was a lot of expectation on me - I've never went before and I've been quite a successful player in Scotland.
"A lot of people expected me to do ok. So I think when I went down there, I could feel the pressure of that."
Topics: Darts
Ryan Smart