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This past Wednesday, the Bay Collective group announced the recruitment of Van Ginhoven, the English national team's general manager working with head coach Sarina Wiegman, to serve as their director of global women’s football operations. This new multi-club ownership body, with San Francisco’s Bay FC as its first club among its holdings, has previously engaged in hiring individuals from the national football governing body.

The appointment earlier this year of Kay Cossington, the prominent ex-technical director for the FA, to the CEO role acted as a clear statement by Bay Collective. She is deeply familiar with female football inside out and now has gathered a leadership team with a deep understanding of the history of women's football and packed with professional background.

She becomes the third central staffer of Wiegman’s setup to leave recently, with Cossington exiting before Euro 2025 and assistant coach, Veurink, stepping down to become head manager of the Netherlands, but her decision was made earlier.

Moving on has been a jarring experience, yet “I’d taken my decision to leave the FA some time back”, she explains. “I had a contract for four years, just as Veurink and Wiegman did. As they re-signed, I had expressed I was uncertain whether I would. I was already used to the thought that post-Euros my time with England would end.”

The tournament became an emotional competition as a result. “I recall distinctly, having a conversation with Wiegman in which I informed her about my decision and then we said: ‘We share a single dream, how incredible it would be if we were to win the European Championship?’ In life, it's rare that hopes materialize frequently however, against the odds, it actually happened.”

Wearing a Netherlands-colored shirt, Van Ginhoven experiences split allegiances after her time working in England, during which she contributed to winning back-to-back European titles and worked within the coaching setup when the Netherlands won at Euro 2017.

“England will always hold a dear spot in my heart. So, it’s going to be tough, particularly now knowing that the squad will be arriving for the international camp soon,” she notes. “Whenever the two nations face off, who do I support? Today I have on orange, but tomorrow I'll be in white.”

In a speedboat, you can pivot and accelerate swiftly. In a small team like this, that is simple to achieve.

The American side was not initially considered as the strategic expert was deciding that it was time for a change, but everything aligned at the right time. The chief executive initiated the recruitment and mutual beliefs were key.

“Virtually from the start we met we had that click moment,” says Van Ginhoven. “There was immediate understanding. We have spoken at length about different things related to developing women's football and what we think is the right way.”

Cossington and Van Ginhoven are not the only figures to uproot themselves from prominent roles in the European game for a fresh start in the US. The Spanish club's women’s technical director, Patricia González, has been unveiled as the organization's new global sporting director.

“I was highly interested to that strong belief in the potential within the female sport,” she says. “I have known Kay Cossington for many years; when I used to work at Fifa, she was the technical director of England, and it’s easy to make these decisions knowing you'll be working alongside individuals who motivate you.”

The profound understanding among their staff distinguishes them, explains she, as Bay Collective among a number fresh club ownership ventures which have emerged over the past few years. “It's a standout feature of our approach. It’s OK that people do things in different ways, however we strongly feel in having that football knowledge on board,” she adds. “Each of us have progressed in women’s football, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As outlined on their site, the ambition of this group is to champion and pioneer an advanced and lasting environment within female football clubs, founded on effective practices for the diverse needs of women. Succeeding in this, with everyone on the same page, with no need to make the case regarding certain decisions, is incredibly freeing.

“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, not sure how it comes across – and it's necessary to trust your personal insight and skills to choose wisely. You can change direction and move quickly with a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, it's straightforward to accomplish.”

She adds: “Here, we begin with a clean canvas to build upon. Personally, our work involves shaping the sport on a wider scale and that blank slate permits you to undertake any direction you choose, following the sport's regulations. That is the advantage of our collective project.”

The ambition is high, the executives are saying the things athletes and supporters hope to hear and it will be interesting to observe the evolution of Bay Collective, the team and other teams that may join.

For a flavour of what is to come, what factors are essential for a top-level environment? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve