Back in the day, when Glyn Roberts was a young man in Manchester, England, he joined a semiprofessional local soccer team, except of course they call it football over there. At the time, he was a stylist for Vidal Sassoon and everyone else on the team was a plumber, bricklayer, or mechanic. "I was the only one who showed up clean," the busy Mancunian expat reminisces by phone from his home on a Saturday morning the first weekend in March, prior to heading out to attend a game as a volunteer coach for the Yaletown Football Club.

Roberts, 46, is the owner of Tenthirtyeight (1025 Mainland Street), a sport-inspired streetwear boutique that led the trend 11 years ago when it opened just as the Yaletown scene was starting to take off. He's passionate about soccer, and his love of what the Brazilians call "the beautiful game" extends to his keen interest in sport-related style and design, as is evidenced by the hip labels draped on the racks at Tenthirtyeight. Music has almost as much of an impact as athletics on the store's aesthetic and Roberts's buying decisions. His Britpop tastes are certainly soccer lad-ish, to say the least.

"I've been influenced not only by their music but their style-by Ian Curtis, Paul Weller, Noel and Liam Gallagher, Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten, the Kaiser Chiefs, and Coldplay. But today, with fashion chasing a never-ending tail of reinventing itself and music constantly taking something from the past, it's individuals that stand out for me."

In contemporary men's fashion, individuals from the world of sport are wielding an enormous influence on trends, especially some of soccer's star players. Contrary to the myth that jocks-i.e., "real men"-don't have a clue about style and fashion, a peek at the Armani, Boss, Prada, and Sean John lining many a well-paid pro athlete's closet would indicate otherwise. Body-conscious sports stars like and know their threads, and soccer players lead the pack. Perhaps no one illustrates the sartorial sensibilities of the modern male like David Beckham, formerly of Manchester United. Men.style.com recently published a fashion item featuring Kuno Becker, the hot young Mexican star of the upcoming movie trilogy Goal!. A rags-to-riches, determination-wins-the-day story about a young Latino boy's dream to become the world's greatest soccer player, the first installment is scheduled for a May release. But as far as Roberts is concerned, the late MU alumnus George Best, who died last year at the age of 59, started the ball rolling.

"As we look back we see the sex appeal this player had, for men that gazed at his skills, and for girls that just gazed."

Big-name designers have taken note. Giorgio Armani has designed for England's National Team. In 2004, he produced a photo exhibit and book called Faces of Sport, which featured portraits of popular Italian soccer players. The same year, Dolce & Gabbana immortalized their local Sicilian soccer team with an exhibit and book of photographs entitled Calcio, which is Italian for "soccer".

"They're [soccer players] the new icons of contemporary style: young, quite often good-looking, and very, very rich," Stefano Gabbana said during an interview to promote Calcio.

Roberts's passion for soccer translates into a unique fundraising event leading up to the FIFA 2006 World Cup in Germany in June. Tenthirtyeight is currently stocking the new Umbro home and away soccer shirts for England's national team, and purchasers can donate a portion of the cost to a local children's-sports association called MoreSports, which enables less-privileged kids in the Lower Mainland to join athletic clubs and participate in team sports. Umbro is a prominent U.K.-based soccer brand that was founded in 1924.

"You'll receive 20 percent off the price of your 2006 England short-sleeved shirt," Roberts explained. The shirt is $129 before tax; customers can decide how much of the $25.80 to donate to the association. "You could donate $10 and keep $15.80 as a saving. It's totally up to you."

Roberts wants customers to make the choice so that they really feel like they are participating in helping out the community. Community participation is very important to him. He is involved with MoreSports as a coordinator. He doesn't just coach the YFC, an all-ages men's team; he also coaches tots' soccer at Yaletown's Roundhouse Community Centre and the Dunbar Soccer girls' team (12 and under). As well, he is assisting with the development of the West End Community Centre soccer club. Aside from his sports activities and Tenthirtyeight, he is a consultant for an international branding company, and, as the married father of an 11-year-old girl, he's got a full family life waiting for him at home.

Vancouver is a natural haven for sport-inspired apparel, and Tenthirtyeight is stocked for spring with plenty of gear. The World Camo Wheedle DJ Bag ($390) from the U.K. lifestyle label Stüssy will appeal to travelling tunesters. Special-edition City Tribe T-shirts, also from Stüssy, sell for $49. The One Love collection of tricot zip jackets ($59) are perfect for the warming weather. Emblazoned across the front with the name of your favourite soccer country-England, Argentina, Italy, Brazil, et cetera-they come in a range of bright colours. Nike has come out with a collection of items called Hackney Marsh, referring to an area outside of London that, says Roberts, is "a place that the likes of David Beckham would have played in his early years. It has the largest collection of football fields in Europe, and you can see 100 games played there on any given day. This collection depicts the feeling of the place and has a dishevelled look about it, with distressed graphics and a very cool off-the-field geezer look." Hackney Marsh sweatshirts are $90.

A trip to Tenthirtyeight may not have you bending it like Beckham, but at least you can pretend, and that's part of the fun of fashion. And if it helps more kids get into team sports, even better.