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Midweek, Bay Collective announced the appointment of Anja van Ginhoven, the English national team's managerial lead under head coach Sarina Wiegman, taking on the role of overseer of worldwide women's football activities. The new multi-team ownership group, featuring the San Francisco-based Bay FC as its inaugural team within its group, has a history in hiring individuals from the Football Association.

The appointment in recent months of Kay Cossington, the well-respected previous technical director at the Football Association, as top executive was a clear statement from this organization. She knows female football comprehensively and now has put together an executive team with a deep understanding of the evolution of the women's game and packed with professional background.

She becomes the third central staffer of Wiegman's coaching team to leave this year, following the chief executive exiting prior to the Euros and the assistant manager, Arjan Veurink, moving on to become manager of the Dutch national team, however her decision arrived more quickly.

Moving on proved to be a surprising shift, yet “I had decided to depart the Football Association some time back”, Van Ginhoven explains. “My agreement lasting four years, just as Veurink and Wiegman did. As they re-signed, I previously indicated I was uncertain if I would do the same. I was already used to the notion that post-Euros my time with England would end.”

The tournament became a sentimental competition because of this. “I remember very clearly, vividly, speaking with Sarina where I basically told her about my decision and then we said: ‘We share a single dream, how amazing would it be to clinch the European title?’ In reality, dreams don't hopes materialize frequently yet, remarkably, ours came true.”

Sitting in an orange T-shirt, she experiences split allegiances following her stint in England, where she was part of winning back-to-back European titles and served on the coaching setup during the Dutch victory the 2017 Euros.

“The English side will always hold a dear spot in my heart. So, it will be difficult, particularly now knowing that the players are due to arrive for national team duty shortly,” she notes. “When England plays the Netherlands, where do my loyalties lie? Right now I'm in Dutch colors, though tomorrow English white.”

A speedboat allows for rapid direction changes. In a lean group like this one, that is simple to achieve.

The club was not in the plans as the organisational wizard concluded that it was time for a change, however the pieces fell into place opportunely. Cossington initiated the recruitment and their shared values were key.

“Virtually from the start we got together we felt immediate synergy,” says she. “You’re immediately on the same level. Our conversations have been thorough on various topics around how you grow the game and the methods we believe are correct.”

The two leaders are not the only figures to make a move from prominent roles within European football for a blank sheet of paper across the Atlantic. The Spanish club's women’s technical director, González, has been announced as Bay Collective’s new global sporting director.

“I was very attracted in the deep faith regarding the strength of women's football,” González comments. “I've been acquainted with 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 knowing you will have around you people who really inspire you.”

The profound understanding in their team distinguishes them, notes she, with Bay Collective one of several new multi-club initiatives which have emerged over the past few years. “That’s one of our unique selling points. It’s OK that people do things in different ways, however we strongly feel in ensuring deep football understanding,” she states. “Each of us have progressed within the women's game, probably for the best part of our lives.”

According to their online statement, the mission for the collective is to support and lead a forward-thinking and durable system within female football clubs, built on proven methods for the diverse needs of women in sport. Achieving this, with everyone on the same page, with no need to make the case regarding certain decisions, is hugely liberating.

“I liken it to transitioning from a tanker to a speedboat,” says she. “You're journeying across unmapped territories – as we say in the Netherlands, I don’t know if it translates – and you just need to rely on your individual understanding and experience to make the right decision. Adjusting course and speeding up is possible in a speedboat. In a lean group like this, that’s easily done.”

She continues: “With this opportunity, we begin with a clean canvas to build upon. Personally, our work focuses on impacting football more extensively and that white paper enables you to pursue anything you desire, following the sport's regulations. This is the appeal of our collective project.”

Their goals are lofty, the management are saying the things athletes and supporters want to hear and it will be interesting to observe the evolution of this organization, Bay FC and future additions to the group.

To get a sense of future plans, 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