Backward shift invariant subspaces in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces

In this note, we describe the backward shift invariant subspaces for an abstract class of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. Our main result is inspired by a result of Sarason concerning de Branges-Rovnyak spaces (the non-extreme case). Furthermore, we give new applications in the context of the range space of co-analytic Toeplitz operators and sub-Bergman spaces.