The B-team proposal that Portsmouth fans are likely to steadfastly oppose

When the EFL Trophy was revamped in 2016, an overwhelming majority of the Fratton faithful were opposed to the introduction of Category One academy sides entering the competition.

It sparked the reformation of SOS Pompey, who felt it had a duty against a ‘ridiculous competition’.

With crowd numbers for games at Fratton Park the lowest in the club’s post-Second World War era, it became known as the B-team boycott.

There were fears that the tournament would be a precursor for B teams entering the Football League.

That hasn’t happened yet and as Pompey have enjoyed success in the competition, winning it last season and reaching the final this term, attendances at PO4 have slowly risen.

For this campaign’s dramatic 3-2 semi-final win over Exeter, 14,735 were in the stands.

Moreover, in 2014 there was also a League Three proposed by the FA to help upcoming young, homegrown talent. The notion was quashed

Chief executive Mark Catlin insisted he couldn’t see B teams entering the Football League ahead of the Blues’ memorable triumph over Sunderland at a sold-out Wembley last season.

But with the coronavirus crisis gripping football, the prospect of B teams entering the Football League has again been raised.

As clubs face a precarious financial landscape following the Covid-19 landscape, Dan Ashworth, the FA’s former director of elite development, believes the much-maligned idea could be 'back on the table'.

Brighton's technical director told the BBC: ‘Everyone starts by looking at their own house. Our budgets, what our outgoings and incomings are.

‘A few years ago, we explored strategic loan clubs, B teams, partner clubs, those sort of things.

‘Maybe things like that come back on the table because if there is a shortage of money and everybody has to cut their cloth accordingly.

‘Maybe there’s some ways we can form partnerships that we can share resources and help one another.

‘Ground sharing has been looked at, artificial surfaces that can be used for numerous things from concerts to training and women’s and men’s games in the same venue.

'Maybe we become more resourceful and share those resources accordingly.

‘There’s a great phrase: “the more resources you have, the more resourceful you become”. I wonder whether we’re in that state with football at the moment..’