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Midweek, the Bay Collective group revealed the recruitment of Anja van Ginhoven, the English national team's managerial lead working with Sarina Wiegman, as their global women's football operations director. The freshly established collective club ownership initiative, featuring Bay FC of San Francisco as its first club among its holdings, has prior experience in bringing in talent from the English FA.

The appointment in recent months of Cossington, the prominent former FA technical director, as top executive served as a signal of intent by this organization. Cossington is deeply familiar with female football inside out and now has gathered an executive team with a deep understanding of women’s football history and packed with experience.

Van Ginhoven becomes the third central staffer of Wiegman's coaching team to depart in the current year, following Cossington exiting before Euro 2025 and the assistant manager, Veurink, leaving to take up the role of head coach of the Dutch national team, however Van Ginhoven's choice arrived more quickly.

Leaving proved to be a surprising shift, yet “My choice was made to depart the Football Association quite a long time ago”, Van Ginhoven states. “I had a contract for four years, similar to Veurink and Wiegman had. When they renewed, I had expressed I didn’t know about renewing myself. I was already used to the whole idea that after the European Championship I wouldn’t be part of England any more.”

The European Championship was a deeply felt event due to that. “I recall distinctly, speaking with the head coach in which I informed her regarding my plans and after which we agreed: ‘There’s just one dream, what a triumph it would represent if we were to win the European Championship?’ Generally, it’s not like aspirations are realized every day however, absolutely incredibly, ours came true.”

Wearing a Netherlands-colored shirt, Van Ginhoven has divided loyalties after her time with the English team, where she was part of securing consecutive European championships and served on the manager's team for the Netherlands’ triumph in the 2017 European Championship.

“The English side will always hold a dear spot in my heart. Therefore, it will be difficult, notably since that the players are due to arrive for national team duty shortly,” she comments. “When England plays the Netherlands, which side do I back? I’m wearing orange at the moment, though tomorrow English white.”

A speedboat allows for rapid direction changes. In a lean group like this one, it's effortless to accomplish.

The American side was not in the plans when the strategic expert concluded that it was time for a change, however the opportunity arose opportunely. The chief executive started to bring people in and their shared values were crucial.

“Essentially upon meeting we met we had that click moment,” remarks she. “We were instantly aligned. We have spoken at length regarding multiple aspects around how you grow the game and what we think is the right way.”

Cossington and Van Ginhoven are among several to make a move from well-known positions in Europe's football scene for a blank sheet of paper in the US. Atlético Madrid’s women’s technical director, Patricia González, has been announced as the group's new global sporting director.

“I felt strongly drawn by the firm conviction in the potential of women's football,” she says. “I have known Kay Cossington for many years; during my tenure at Fifa, she held the technical director role for England, and it’s easy to make these decisions when you know you are going to be surrounded by individuals who motivate you.”

The extensive expertise in their team sets them apart, notes she, as Bay Collective among a number fresh club ownership ventures which have emerged over the past few years. “This is a key differentiator for us. It’s OK that people do things in different ways, but we are firm in our belief in having that football knowledge on board,” she adds. “Each of us have progressed within the women's game, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As their website states, the mission of this group is to support and lead a progressive and sustainable ecosystem of women’s football clubs, founded on effective practices for the diverse needs of female athletes. Succeeding in this, with everyone on the same page, with no need to make the case for why you would take certain actions, is incredibly freeing.

“I equate it to transitioning from a tanker to a speedboat,” states Van Ginhoven. “You're journeying in uncharted waters – that’s a Dutch saying, not sure how it comes across – and you just need to rely on your own knowledge and expertise to choose wisely. You can change direction and move quickly with a speedboat. In a small team like this, it's straightforward to accomplish.”

González adds: “With this opportunity, we start with a blank slate to build upon. Personally, what we do involves shaping the sport more extensively and that blank slate allows you to do any direction you choose, within the rules of the game. This is the appeal of what we are building together.”

The aspirations are significant, the management are saying the things the football community hope to hear and it will be compelling to follow the development of this organization, the team and other teams that may join.

For a flavour of what is to come, which elements are crucial of a high-performance environment? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve