STEVE Coote has a burning ambition. Newly-crowned as the German Open Champion, the Bolton thrower will fly the flag for England when the cream of world darts assemble for the home internationals next month. There's also a good chance he will make the all-important Top 20 and qualify for the prestigious Embassy World Championships.

But, successful or not, the 28-year-old marksman will be back at work the next day . . . fighting fires with Manchester's Red Watch.

"Darts is just a hobby," says the Farnworth fireman. "Firefighting comes first.

"I fit everything round work and, if I don't get the time off, I don't play. It's as simple as that.

"I'm not even going to consider turning professional. "

There's no tellng what Coote might achieve if he did go full-time. This is his first year on the European circuit, where he competes regularly against up to 30 or 40 pros.

But, like fellow Bolton star, Paul Williams, he has to cope with the pressure of top level competition while continuing to do the job he loves.

"Firefighting is my life," he says without hesitation, "and I intend to keep it that way. I work in one of the busiest stations in the country - 10,000 calls a year - and I love my work. "But I've found that, by arranging my holidays, I can get enough tournaments in and pick up the points that will, hopefully, go towards qualifying for an invitation to the Embassy.

"It would be easier if I was a professional and could go to all the competitions but I'm happy the way things are going at the moment. And if I couldn't work my holidays around the tournaments, I'd just concentrate on playing for my regular teams.

"I'm trying to follow in Paul Williams' footsteps; he's been in the Embassy and he's given me a lot of help and advice. We travel together but I wonder how he does it sometimes because we'll come back from a tournament and he's straight into work the next morning.

"At least I can have a bit of a rest because I'm usually on nights when I get back."

Coote, who plays for Church Hotel in the Bolton 'Handicap' League and for Smokey's in the Farnworth Summer League, has been a Super league regular and a Lancashire County player for 10 years. He reckons he's relaxed among familiar faces on home territory but there was no relaxing in Bochum when he won 10 high-pressure matches in just over 12 hours to score his biggest ever win in front of a 600-strong partisan crowd of German and Dutch fans.

"I certainly wasn't their favourite!" he says, making light of the pressure.

The next pressure-point will be when he throws for England against Wales and Scotland on April 17 and 18 at the Lakeside at Frimley Green.

"Wales won it last time so we'll be all that more determined," he says on behalf of the 15-strong team.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.