Soccer is, without dispute, the world’s most popular sport. From casual games of kickabout to the heights of international competition, those who play and watch the game do so passionately. This passion is at the centre of Alan Twigg’s Full-Time. Twigg, publisher of BC BookWorld and a well-known writer and historian, is also a soccer player, and in this new memoir he tells the story of his love affair with the game.

Replete with references to the greatest players the world has seen, personal recollections of key moments in soccer history, and a “Mercifully Brief History of Soccer in Canada,” Full-Time will instantly connect with any reader who is more than a casual fan of the game. But to add yet another soccer history book to the piles that have come before clearly isn’t Twigg’s intention. Using his own trials and tribulations as a player to create a dramatic arc, Twigg takes us along as his own (men’s over-50) team prepares for a series of international exhibition games in the south of Spain.

This team story sets Full-Time apart from other sports memoirs. Twigg delves into the personal defeats and victories that help define his teammates and himself. By exploring the players’ illnesses, family difficulties, injuries, and much more, Full-Time serves a fascinating second role as a memoir of aging.

However, this dual story of the players’ battles on and off the pitch may also be what puts Full-Time in a sort of limbo in terms of readership. The many references to the sport’s greatest players and the blow-by-blow descriptions of Twigg’s own games will appeal to dedicated soccer fans, while his warm description of the bonds that exist between his teammates will resonate with readers who know very little about the game. It can be tricky, however, for a sports memoir to play to both of those audiences.

There are close to a million registered soccer players in Canada alone, however, and one can’t help but feel that Twigg’s deft writing and palpable passion for the game will allow his memoir to find its way to likeminded players and fans.