World Cup 2018: England making magical memories for new generation

Sir Bobby Charlton spent Saturday afternoon in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. He didn't seem to be concerned about what was happening in Russia, where England were facing Sweden in a World Cup quarter-final.

Sir Bobby knows the score. He's seen it all before.

And now the men of England are in their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years - and 1990 is not even a memory for plenty of the fans celebrating now (nor for most of the squad).

Italia '90 remains vivid for many of the rest of us, though; it wasn't a glorious failure, it was simply glorious. I was a small child, aware of the mythology of 1966 and all that; I'd seen these players in actual real life, in good old-fashioned First Division action, and Paul Gascoigne's weeping broke my young heart. Now when I watch the footage it's Bobby Robson's quiet dignity that makes me want to cry admiring tears. That England squad returned to Luton Airport after the tournament and drove through the town in an open-top bus parade as celebrating fans danced and cheered.

Since then it's become harder and harder for me to feel invested in an England campaign. (Of course, in 1994, they didn't even qualify for the World Cup.) That so-called Golden Generation were nothing but a huge disappointment, and some have admitted that they found it near impossible to feel like a team because they were so focused on their club responsibilities, and thus didn't want to be at all friendly to their domestic rivals - even though they were their England team-mates. I think that was evident on and off the pitch for many years; all those stars, so distrusting of each other, the fans and the media, so unlikeable, so difficult for me to care about.

This England team feels different. This is by no means a Golden Generation - there seem to be no divas on show, and even Gareth Southgate has been honest about their limitations, saying that they have no world-class players as yet. What they do have is spirit, and that - that I can get behind.

The coach's attitude is exemplary - he doesn't have a sense of entitlement, that England just need to turn up to win. He's thoughtful, and meticulous, and there's a plan rather than chaos.

Those photos of Harry Maguire at Euro 2016 as a supporter sum it up. I don't necessarily think that footballers have to be big football fans, but those snaps more than anything show that these men are much more real and approachable than the generation that preceded them.

These are players who are young, who have more often than not spent time very recently at a non-Premier League club (yes, even Harry Kane, with four loan spells away from Tottenham), they play for each other, and they reflect what I loved about football when I first loved it, rather than reflecting what I've loathed about the increasingly commercialised world of English football in the past two decades.

And yes, I'm well aware that some of this sentiment is because of clever media management. This hasn't been a closed camp, with wariness of the media; even before the tournament every player was available to talk to the press, and there hasn't been a social media shut-down either, which means players have been able to show some of their personality and even a bit of humour. (Danny Murphy's grouchy insistence that every England player hates doing their media duties, and if they look happy to be there they're just acting - well, that kind of sums up some of the problem of that failed Golden Generation - so suspicious, so insular.)

The Lionesses showed the way three years ago, with their third-place finish at the Women's World Cup, and their refreshing, free, fresh approach to tournament football as well as the media and fans. The men can equal or better that - and if it should be that they join the boys of '66 as World Cup winners, I will be thrilled.

Whatever happens, it's worth remembering that this World Cup campaign will be the achievement of a lifetime for some - and it will be the tournament we tell the generations to follow us about. Platt's volley, Lineker's penalties, Gascoigne's tears, those memories are now joined by Pickford's fingertip save, Stones's unlikely brace...and winning a shoot-out.

Football's coming home.