IF you had told me 25 or 30 years ago that I would one day be very excited about watching women’s football, I would probably have laughed at you. Silly boys, we just didn’t get it in those misogynistic days ... but I will tell you what – we get it now, as our Scottish women prepare for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France that starts next week.

They have done what our men have not been able to do for 21 years, and qualified for the World Cup. They’ve also done something our men have never done in the entire history of fixtures against Brazil that dates back to 1966 – our women won.

I know a lot of men like myself back then were entirely dismissive of the women’s game, but thanks largely to my former colleague, that excellent sports journalist Moira Gordon, I at least began to pay attention to developments in the women’s game in Scotland.

In recent years I have come to greatly admire the women who play the game here and especially all those connected with the Scottish women’s team, such as former head coach Anna Signeul and current head coach Shelley Kerr. What an inspiration those two have been – Signeul taking Scotland to the European Championship finals in 2017 and Kerr managing the team through a near-perfect World Cup qualification. It has been the making of Scotland as a force in world football, and I believe the best is yet to come.

I really enjoyed the last Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada four years ago, and the likes of Carli Lloyd of the USA and Aya Miyama of Japan certainly made an impression on me – they were just two of a cohort of really skilful players in that excellent tournament deservedly won by the USA.

It was the sheer skill that attracted me – women will obviously never be able to compete equally with men on physical terms, but the skill levels of the top women players are a joy to watch and, whisper it, sometimes better than the men.

Against Jamaica at Hampden – and wasn’t it great to see so many people there? – we saw two magnificent Scottish goals. Erin Cuthbert’s screamer from 30 yards and Caroline Weir’s deft free-kick would have graced any game.

We also saw some duff defending by Scotland, but better to make the mistakes in the warm-up games so they can be tackled in time for the tournament.

No one is seriously expecting Scotland to win the World Cup, not least because we have England and Japan, ranked third and seventh in the world respectively, in our group. It will be a very tough task to get into the next stage, but a result against England a week on Sunday would mean anything could happen and the Scottish women would be instantly transformed into national stars.

I do so hope they can do it. I have watched from afar as the women’s team has progressed and improved, and with the SFA now firmly backing them, I suggest we’ll see Scotland on the big stage for many years to come. One day we may even see Scotland’s women in the latter stages of a European Championship or World Cup.

What the squad need now is to know that they have all of Scotland behind them as they near the match with England a week on Sunday. That match will be shown on BBC1, and with the Corporation having said it will show every match from the tournament somewhere on its platforms, I sincerely hope that Scotland’s games will all be shown on the main channel. According to the BBC website, the final Scotland match against Argentina is due for showing on BBC4, while England versus Japan is set for BBC1 at the same time – but surely the Scotland match could be shown on BBC2 or BBC Scotland as well? Maybe that’s already planned, but if not, it should be.

Furthermore, I sincerely hope the BBC will be making sure the various games get a proper build-up and that they will be giving women commentators and pundits equal time with their male equivalents. Equality of coverage is the least the Scotland women deserve.

And just a footnote to add to my column of last week in which I told of the Scottish football family rallying round to support the testimonial match for Campbell Forsyth of amateur side Linton Hotspur FC in the Borders.

I am delighted to report that the Legends side which drew 1-1 with the Hotspur Selected featured some weel-kent faces such as ex-Hibs and Rangers midfielder Kevin Thompson and current managers Gary Holt and Stevie Crawford, plus Steven Notman of Berwick Rangers’ fame, former Rangers midfielder Brian Gilmour and former internationalist Graeme Murty, all brought together by Creag Robertson, head of youth development at Rangers.

The match featured some fine play, and the event was a credit to all the players and indeed everyone who gave their time and efforts to help the club raise more than £3500 for Maggie’s Centres and Pancreatic Cancer UK, the charities chosen by Campbell to benefit in memory of his late mother Fiona.

Now that’s what I meant about the football family and what that term should be all about.