IT says everything about the misery which 2016 has thus far bestowed upon us, like the Grim Reaper in a bad mood, that those of us who were around at the time look back to the 1990s as if it was the golden time for human kind.

Sure there was the first Gulf War, genocide in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the assignation of Yitzhak Rabin, perhaps the only man who could have brought true peace to the Middle East and, of course, Titanic won loads of Oscars. I’ll let you decide what was worse.

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However, we also had decent music, mobile phones which were not mini-computers so people still spoke to one another, Apartheid was ended in South Africa and the Scotland national team made it to four, that’s four, major tournaments. Great days.

And sticking with the football, you will find enough death and war on the news pages, for at least a few years in the 1990s you could still stand at games before terraces made way for fancy new stands or, in many cases, bucket seats welded onto the old steps which by that time were 70 per cent concrete 20 per cent urine and 10 per cent Bovril.

So many wrong decisions were made after Hillsborough, some of them downright evil as we now know and suspected at the time, and one of them, the order to ban standing from grounds in England, at least in the top two leagues, made no sense then or now. Scotland is not bound by that law, which came into being down south in 1994 but we soon followed suit.

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Of course, many stadiums back then were close to being unfit for purpose, but slapping down some cheap plastic seats was far from the answer.

Up here, the newly formed Scottish Premier League, under the guidance of Roger Mitchell, a small man in more ways than one, came to the conclusion that every club in the top ten, 12 or 14, whatever it was that season, had to have at least 10,000 covered seats.

This was ignoring the fact that many of these clubs never came close to such attendances and could ill-afford to build new stands.

Falkirk were refused promotion one season because they were still at Brockville, an old fading ground but one which needed only a few thousand through the doors to generate a sizzling atmosphere.

They eventually moved to a new stadium with three big stands that are never full. Famous old grounds such as Stark’s Park, Fir Park and Dens Park were given face lifts they didn't really need. So many stands all over the country lie empty during matches, a reminder of the ridiculous men who once ran our game.

Had the people in charge been on the ball, so to speak, then instead of forcing their member clubs to spend money they didn’t have on stands they did not need or would ever fill, they would instead given an order out to tidy up their terraces so people could still stand but in a bit more comfort.

Thankfully, some sense has been seen at last.

Celtic have brought back the terraces or safe standing as it’s known these days. This is an extremely good thing and many other Scottish clubs are watching with interest to see how it works, how much it costs and then they will decide whether to go down that route themselves.

Ross County have openly spoken about safe standing, Aberdeen’s new stadium might have a standing section, while when speaking to other clubs about this issue a few months ago, the overall feeling was that while for some it would be more difficult than others, it was something that certainly intrigued them.

People standing at football matches makes for a better atmosphere. Why? Because it’s human nature. You don’t go to a concert and discover the folk in the posh seats are singing louder than those at the front of the stage.

Tickets are cheaper, you can get more people through the door, and at certain bigger games, the Old Firm, cup finals and what not, that would be beneficial.

Celtic Park was a little over half full for Saturday’s friendly against Wolfsburg but even then you could tell the atmosphere inside the ground, so lacking for a year or so, was going to be so much better.

The club have asked for the spirit of the Jungle to be reproduced in the corner where close to 3000 seats are folded away for domestic games. That will take time but those who occupy that area are going to have some fun.

Not every ground would be able to do what Celtic have done. There is the cost, of course, some newer stands might not be able to facilitate people standing through games because that's not what they were built for, and also there is the fact that ripping out seats is going to move fans, perhaps long-time season tickets holders, from where they have sat for ten or twenty years.

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However, it would be simple-ish enough for both east and west enclosures at Ibrox to have safe standing. So, too, the ends behind the goal at Hampden Park and at Easter Road, there is already a section where a blind eye is taken to those who want to stand.

And maybe one day the powers-that-be will work out that allowing the ordinary punter to buy a pint at the game is not going to bring society to its knees. Even in 2016.