The latest Celtic semi-final ticket update shows utter contempt for the fans.

So the Association’s just had its meeting with the club over this digital ticket fiasco for the St Johnstone semi-final at Hampden and, as I suspected, it’s a farce. The two reps from the club ticket office basically told the Association nothing that fans didn’t already know: “This is how you get your digital ticket.”

Those who imposed this garbage on fans think they’ve made enough concessions. That’s the bottom line. They believe that by allowing tickets to be transferable for this game, they’ve done all they need to.

So now there’s talk about people sharing smartphones and how you can pass it from one person to another once you’re through the gate. It’s all idiotic. It’s ridiculous nonsense. It overcomplicates what should be a very simple thing.

They just don’t get it—or they don’t care.

Either way, that’s troubling. Especially as these arrangements are almost certainly going to be put in place for the final as well. Which is going to deny a section of the fanbase at both clubs a chance to attend the game. Needlessly.

The problem here is what the problem has always been: the digital ticket itself and the imposition of that on fans who might not be able to—or might not want to—do it that way.

Yes, there’s a section of our support that probably prefers a digital ticket. They should have that option. But that should not automatically exclude every other fan from the game. Almost as unbelievable as the decision itself is the deaf ear that’s been turned towards those fans, and the utter contempt for their views—especially when you consider they were never consulted on this beforehand.

This is so like the SFA to come up with something like this. At a time when we should be doing everything possible to make the matchday experience smooth and straightforward, they’ve placed this preposterous obstacle in the way of people who’ve been going to games for decades without any issues whatsoever.

You know, I’ve read some ridiculous commentary on this subject from people online who’ve talked about smartphone boarding passes, smartphone concert tickets, and all the rest of it. They don’t just miss the point—they ignore it entirely.

For every single one of those things, there is a paper alternative. You can download and print off a boarding pass if you don’t want it on your phone, or if someone in your travelling party doesn’t have one. It’s the same with concert tickets.

Some form of paper ticket with a barcode on it has always been—and will always be—available as an alternative.

Except for football fans. Because this system is being trialled for the Euros, the SFA has introduced it here. They didn’t bother to talk to fans about it. They didn’t bother to ask whether fans wanted this. They just imposed it. It’s another example of football fans being pissed on from a great height by association governing bodies who don’t care about the fan experience or what supporters actually want.

It’s unbelievable to me that some SFA working group sat around a table and decided to do this without asking a single supporter how they felt about it, without canvassing fan opinion to find out if it was even a good idea.

Football fans come from every social demographic, and some one-size-fits-all policy like this just stinks to high heaven. And they are not listening. They are not going to change this. Not without serious pressure from the clubs—and the clubs are rolling over and going along with it. Although Celtic are trying to mitigate some of the damage that’s been done here, they’re not going to mitigate all of it.

This is going to be a complete mess. It’s going to be a shitshow. And I know people who were dying to go to this game, who now seriously don’t want to attend it. There’s a lot of ludicrous uncertainty here—needless uncertainty—which is entirely the fault of the people who imposed this system.

What’s clear is that the SFA refuses to change course. They point-blank refuse to make the one concession that would sort this out: making paper tickets available to anyone who wants one and prefers one.

No concerns about passing phones from person to person. No worries about how to swap it if you have to with someone else. No fretting over battery life or connectivity. No issues for people who might not want to take an expensive bit of kit to a football match where it could get lost, stolen, or broken.

Just the simple idea that you can print off a ticket at home—or have someone else do it for you—if you don’t want it on your phone.

The most uncomplicated thing in all of football has needlessly been made complicated by an association that views supporters with absolute contempt.

Celtic should be telling them that we won’t take tickets for the final if they’re being offered on this basis. Hampden can do what it likes for Scotland games, but this is a domestic cup competition where the clubs damned well ought to have a say. And if Celtic is going along with this, then shame on them for that—and for treating their own fans with equal disregard.

This remains the stupidest idea I’ve heard in a long time, and it is atrocious that nobody seems to want to change course and fix it.