Rewind 12 months and pubs up and down the country were rammed with football fans watching England beat Colombia on penalties in a World Cup last 16 match.

The nation was gripped by Gareth Southgate’s waistcoat - and his young and fearless team.

More than 24 million tuned in to see England win a World Cup penalty shoot-out for the first time and the raw emotion poured out into our town centres.

It all, inevitably, ended in heartbreak, but even people usually not interested in football were watching it and talking about it.

England’s Women face USA tonight in what promises to be the best game so far in the Women’s World Cup.

But it wouldn’t surprise me if more people were watching Emmerdale or the Simpsons and there will be no celebrations in the streets if England win (which is, of course, good news for our bus shelters).

I will be glued to it, which won’t necessarily be a surprise to anyone that knows me.

After all, I would watch the likes of Forest Green Rovers versus Crewe Alexandra (they play in same league as Colchester United by the way) if any TV channel would care to broadcast it - and some do.

I get genuinely excited by two of the worst teams in the Premier League facing off, the veritable relegation “six pointer”, in the full knowledge it is likely to be a goalless draw.

I still insist on filling out a wall chart during World or European cups. You get the picture.

So I was one of 7.6 million people who tuned into England Women’s quarter final win against Norway last week.

I have to admit I am enjoying the women’s game more with every match I watch. Here’s why:

1. It’s not all about pace and power

It is pointless trying to compare women’s and men’s football they are, for all intents and purposes, different sports.

Sure, the rules are the same, but so much actually plays out differently. Men’s football, particularly in England, is built on pace and power. Players are hulks who can run all day and skill often comes second to physique.

The opposite is the case in women’s football where the game is slower with more emphasis on technique and short passing.

The goalkeepers can’t smash the ball 100 yards up field so they tend to pass it to one of their defenders - an increasingly fashionable tactic in the men’s game in England.

2. Jeepers keepers

The average height of a goalkeeper in the Women’s Super League in England is 5ft 8ins - a full 7ins shorter than in the men’s Premier League where is is not unusual to have a 6ft 6ins man mountain between the post.

Yes, women’s football goalkeepers sometimes get lobbed or chipped because the crossbar is 8ft from the ground, as it is in the men’s game despite the physical disparity.

But the goalkeeping at this World Cup it vastly better than it was four years ago.

England’s Karen Bardsley made two stunning one-on-one saves against Norway that any of her male counterparts would have been proud of.

Instead of “shrinking” the goals in women’s football, how about making the goals in men’s football bigger?

3. Clean bill of health

The number of cynical fouls, haranguing of referees, diving and feigning injuries in the women’s game is negligible.

It means the games flow much better and you rarely see the kind of “handbags” commonplace in the men’s game.

(If you saw Cameroon’s histrionics during their defeat to England, ignore all of the above.)

Perhaps it will become more prevalent in the women’s game as the stakes get higher but it is so refreshing to see the beautiful game being played so respectfully.

If you want role models, take a look at the England Lionesses.

4. VAR drama

Whether you like it or not (and plenty of people don’t), VAR, or video assistant referees, are coming to the Premier League this season.

The Women’s World Cup has been using the technology and will give us a taste of what to expect.

Effectively, a team of officials are watching the game in a studio and can review key moments, such as whether a player was offside when they scored or if a foul was committed in the penalty box.

The system slows the game down and fans are often left wondering what is going on but at least the decisions are right.

But the best bit about VAR is the fact the officials in the studio, miles away from the stadium, are wearing their full kit.

5. It’s coming home

England’s men’s football team are the serial under-performers.

Successive golden generations have gone to World Cups and melted under the pressure...Bonetti’s fumbles, Gazza’s tears, Beckham’s red card, Seaman’s blunder.

Now you’ve got a chance to watch an England team actually win matches in a World Cup (five in a row so far...not something a men’s team has done since...yes, you’ve guessed it, 1966).

We’ve got the joint leading scorer (Ellen White, five goals), one of the best players in the world in right back Lucy Bronze, who reminds me of Brazilian legend Cafu, and one of the most exciting talents in the tournament in Nikita Parris.

USA are reigning champions and will take some beating but be part of something special and get behind the Lionesses tonight.