Spare a thought for Chelsea’s programme sellers, who are left with boxfuls of unsold £3.50 souvenir mags… because Stamford Bridge has gone cashless.

Even in last weekend’s important clash against Man City, as the European champs faced the English champs, many programmes failed to shift as baffled away fans offered coins and fivers, only to be told to keep their money.

Mimicking Arsenal, the Blues now only take credit or debit cards, and refuse anything bearing the Queen’s head. The only people still taking cash are the touts at Fulham Broadway.

The ‘no cash’ rule means that after one recent match, 4,000 copies of the club’s informative, well-edited programmes had to be pulped.

On the pitch, the Blues themselves felt pulped after a deflected Gabriel Jesus strike gave City three points, and Pep Guardiola revenge for the European defeat in Porto… the last time these clubs had met.

“We’re disappointed,” admitted Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta. “We didn’t create chances and we lost the ball too easily. They dominated.”

It was a fair assessment. For all Thomas Tuchel’s touchline antics (he contorts and twists like a man plugged into the mains), his team couldn’t keep possession and Romelu Lukaku, up front, was Billy No Mates, lonely and starved of opportunities.

Chelsea host Southampton at the Bridge this weekend after what Tuchel hopes was just a stutter on the way to better things.

The programme sellers, with their hand-held card readers, will again be shrugging, sympathising, but telling Saints supporters that their money is not legal tender in the plastic realm that is Stamford Bridge.