IT IS 25 years since England’s highly charged penalty defeat to West Germany in the World Cup semi-final at Italia 1990.

The preceding decade saw social and political upheaval in Britain. The working class took on Thatcher and her vicious pro-business, anti-union ideology with the year-long miners’ strike, the pinnacle of solidarity and struggle at the midpoint.

That historic battle was followed by the momentous anti-Poll Tax movement that saw the hated PM toppled as a mass non-payment campaign made the project unworkable and 250,000 took to the streets of London.

Football too was in turmoil.

Attendances were in decline, stadiums were crumbling, hooliganism saw working-class fans branded criminals and Thatcher attempted to bring in fan ID cards to give police even more of a free rein (this was eventually knocked back by a campaign of supporters).

With football’s future in doubt, the Bradford fire that killed 56, the Heysel disaster that resulted in 39 deaths and the 96 crushed to death at Hillsborough seemed to be events that that would break the sport.

Sometimes called “the game that saved football,” the last-gasp finish to the 1989 season that saw Arsenal clinch a dramatic win at Anfield to take the title after poignantly delivering bouquets of flowers to fans around the ground in memory of the 96 seemed to mark a change in fortunes for the maligned sport.

Yet the country’s national team had disappointed at the Euros in 1988 and the World Cup qualifying campaign did little to combat the doubters.

But as Sir Bobby Robson’s side progressed through the tournament the country started to pull behind the team and the game as working-class midfielder Paul Gascoigne outshone all the greats, including Maradona.

The semi-final on July 4 against West Germany approached and working-class people united to support the improving team as they battled for a World Cup final place.

And one of the most iconic moments in English football fell in the 99th minute as Gascoigne fumbled into Thomas Berthold to receive a booking that would see him miss out on the illustrious final, should England beat the Germans. Tears flowed, 30 million watched at home and photographers snapped. “I realised: I’m going to miss the final, and I cried,” Gascoigne said in an interview with Press Association Sport to mark the 25th anniversary of the semi-final.

“I cried because I thought: I’m going to miss the most important games of my career.

“But because I’m not selfish, I thought: ‘Come on, if I’m not going to make it, I want the other players to get there’ and I worked my nuts off the last 20 minutes,” the 48-year-old recalled.

England were defeated on penalties and returned home with football’s reputation salvaged and, despite feeling bruised, heads held high — while the West Germans went on to win their third World Cup title.

Little did we know that we would have to wait 25 years to see an England side reach a World Cup semi-final again.

After an array of disappointing tournaments from the men’s team, this historic anniversary falls in the week that Mark Sampson’s women prepare for their Canadian semi-final against current champions Japan.

Here’s hoping that this tournament plays a similar revitalising role and removes the stigma surrounding women and sport by opening up a discussion on resources and priorities in the game as a whole.