Brighton technical director Dan Ashworth believes the idea of 'B teams' or partner clubs in English football could be raised again following the coronavirus pandemic.
The current shutdown caused by Covid-19 is having a hugely adverse impact upon finances and causing massive uncertainty regarding the future of clubs throughout the divisions.
And Ashworth - who served as the Football Association's (FA) technical director for six years before leaving to join Brighton in 2018 - says clubs may need to "share resources" to help find a way through such an unprecedented crisis.
The former Norwich defender claims proposals such as that of the introduction of Premier League B teams into the lower leagues could be tabled once again after previously being rejected, while he also gave ground sharing as another example of how clubs across both men and women's football could work together.
“The sort of things we explored a number of years ago, during my time at the FA, were strategic loan clubs, B teams or partner clubs,” Ashworth told the BBC.
“Maybe, just maybe, things like that come back on the table.
"If there’s a shortage of money and everybody has to cut their cloth accordingly then maybe there’s ways we can share resources and help one another.
“Ground sharing is one that has been looked at before, artificial surfaces that can be used for concerts and training.
"You could have women’s and men’s games in the same venue.”
