Not sure how reliable it is, but I've seen a few people on Twitter saying that there's a proposal from us and a few other SL clubs about putting reserve sides into League 1.

Personally, it's something I've wanted to see us do for quite a while now. Instead of farming players out to other clubs on loan, keep them in our system on a weekly basis but still reap the benefits of the increased playing level.

Running with the idea, I'd love to see us introduce a "reserve salary pot", basically a couple of players who are there to play for Wigan reserves in league one & nothing else. Their salary wouldn't count against the cap for the main squad and they wouldn't be available for the main squad either. Think a couple of experienced heads to help give some guidance to the younger squad members.

What are people's thoughts?

Think this would be a real positive for the league and player development.

It makes perfect sense but I wonder if politics would prevent it from happening.

Works perfectly fine in Spanish football, there was even an occasion where Real Madrid had to play against their own reserves in the cup final.

I’d be very much in favour of this. It would be a lot better than the limited number of fixtures the reserves have at present.

There would have to be a caveat preventing promotion though.

It would be fantastic news for player development and the game in general but as pointed out, politics will stop it. The clubs who hold the game back will say it’s an unfair advantage for the clubs running reserve teams, all while they don’t run one and then fill their teams with players produced by said clubs running reserve teams.

Hope I’m wrong and it happens. The opportunities it would give young players would be fantastic.

far too sensible for it to come to fruition...

How would this work with first team players who get suspended, it really would blow the open the loop hole for using reserve grade games. I do like the idea but at the moment there are more questions than answers

Stays the way it is now IMO, reserve games only count on weeks when there is no first team game anyway, so the only time it'd possibly have any effect is if there's a League 1 fixture during an international break.

And what happens when an SL reserve team wins league one?

In Spanish football, the reserve sides playing in their first team league system cannot be promoted, so it would presumably follow that model.

It sounds a great idea in principle. The new structure prevents promotion to the top flight, so having reserve grade sides in the 3rd tier shouldnt have any impact on the integrity, but will have a massive impact on player development with guaranteed games.

I take it these fixtures would be played at Robin Park and not the DW - although a Wigan/Saints reserve grade game would probably get a five figure crowd if it was marketed well.

From a competitive standpoint it would be great. I'm not sure the money would work though. Very few people watch reserves even if they are only being charged a fiver or getting in free with a season ticket. It's mainly just friends and family of the players. League 1 clubs are already skint, that would be a big hit for them to take.

If it was to go ahead I wouldn't be surprised to see Orrell redeveloped to accommodate the reserves and women's games.