Stephen Coote (born 19 September 1970) is an English professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the ...

player. He won the

German Open German Open is a name given to many sports events established in Germany, and include: *German Open (badminton), an annual badminton tournament held since 1955. *German Open (golf), was a golf tournament on the European Tour *German Masters, a snook ...

in 1999. He is not a full-time professional and works as a fireman.

BDO career

Coote made his televised debut at the 1999

Winmau World Masters The World Masters is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments, which began in 1974. The tournament is sponsored by darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was unusual in darts in that its sets are th ...

, beating

Matt Chapman Matthew James Chapman (born April 28, 1993) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Oakland Athletics. Chapman made his MLB debut with Oakland in ...

in the first round, before losing in the second round to Dave King. He then played at the

2000 BDO World Darts Championship The 2000 Embassy World Professional Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey between 8–16 January 2000. Ted Hankey was in imperious form throughout the tournament, reaching the quarter-finals without dr ...

, beating Martin Adams in the first round, but lost to

Co Stompé Jacobus Wilhelmus "Co" Stompé (born 10 September 1962) is a Dutch former professional darts player. He was nicknamed The Matchstick because of his almost bald head and very thin appearance, making him look like a matchstick. He was also one of ...

. In the

2001 BDO World Darts Championship The 2001 BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament held from 6 to 14 January 2001 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. It was the 24th staging of the competition since the 1978 event and the 16th tim ...

he lost in the first round to

Wayne Mardle Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil T ...

. In the 2002 World Championship, he beat Sweden's

Markus Korhonen Markus Korhonen (born 29 April 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender and the current goaltending coach of Ilves. Korhonen's son Rasmus Korhonen is a goaltender for Porin Ässät. Playing career Korhonen began his car ...

in round one, but lost to Martin Adams in the second round. He reached the 2002 Dutch Open final, but lost to

Shaun Greatbatch Shaun Greatbatch (13 July 1969 – 5 June 2022) was an English professional darts player. He lived in Suffolk and worked in the construction industry. His nickname was Nine Dart Man, having been the first player to hit a perfect nine dart fin ...

, who hit the first

nine-darter A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly an ...

on live television. He followed that with a semi-final place at the 2002 World Masters, with wins over

Darryl Fitton Darryl Fitton (born 5 May 1962) is an English professional darts player. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song " One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses; one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience ...

, Alan Reynolds, Ted Hankey and

Mike Veitch Michael Veitch (born 15 August 1960) is a Scottish former professional darts player. Career He made his televised debut at the 1990 Embassy World Championship losing in the first round to Brian Cairns, but it would be another 12 years before ...

. His run ended though with a defeat to Tony West. In 2003, he was beaten in the first round at Lakeside by Mervyn King. The 2004 World Championship saw him play in a thriller with Gary Robson. Coote was 2–0 up in sets, but Robson fought back to level it at 2–2 and eventually took the match in a sudden death leg.

PDC Switch

Shortly afterwards, Coote switched to the rival

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

. His first tournament in the PDC was the Las Vegas Desert Classic Qualifiers and he qualified for the event. He reached the quarter-finals, losing to the eventual winner

Phil Taylor Phil Taylor may refer to: * Phil Taylor (musician) (1954–2015), English drummer, best known as "Philthy Animal" Taylor * Phil Taylor (darts player) (born 1960), English darts player * Phil Taylor (American football) (born 1988), American footbal ...

. Despite his PDC career getting off to a great start, he never made much progress afterwards, with only a quarter-final place in the Bob Anderson Classic in 2005 to show for. He played at the 2006 UK Open, reaching the last 64 stage. He then reached the last 32 of the Bobby Bourn Memorial, receiving £150 for his efforts. It would be his final winnings in the PDC Pro Tour as he suffered early exit in qualifiers for the World Grand Prix and World Championship as well as the UK Open Regionals, earning no money as a result. During 2013 Coote has won a tour card while playing in the PDC Qualifying School, so he can now play on the PDC Circuit.

Return to BDO

In September 2007, Coote became a rarity in world darts, becoming one of only a few players to return to the BDO after switching to the PDC. However his second spell began just like his final PDC days, suffering early exits from the World Masters and the Lakeside World Championship qualifiers. He then found some form, reaching the last 16 of the Scottish Open in February 2008 losing to Garry Thompson who caused a major shock by winning the event. Coote quit the BDO in 2017.

World Championship results

BDO

*2000: 2nd Round (lost to

1–3) (sets) *2001: 1st Round (lost to

2–3) *2002: 2nd Round (lost to Martin Adams 1–3) *2003: 1st Round (lost to Mervyn King 1–3) *2004: 1st Round (lost to Gary Robson 2–3)

References

External links

Steve Coote's websiteSteve Coote's profile and stats
on Darts Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Coote, Steve 1970 births English darts players Living people Sportspeople from Bolton British Darts Organisation players Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders