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Midweek, the Bay Collective group announced the hiring of Van Ginhoven, the English national team's general manager under Sarina Wiegman, taking on the role of director of global women’s football operations. This new multi-club ownership body, which includes San Francisco’s Bay FC as its first club within its group, has prior experience in bringing in talent from the national football governing body.

The hiring earlier this year of Cossington, the well-respected previous technical director at the Football Association, as the chief executive acted as a demonstration of ambition by this organization. She is deeply familiar with female football thoroughly and now she has assembled a leadership team with a deep understanding of the evolution of the women's game and packed with professional background.

Van Ginhoven marks the third key figure of Wiegman's coaching team to leave in the current year, following the chief executive departing prior to the European Championships and deputy manager, Arjan Veurink, moving on to assume the position of manager of the Dutch national team, however her move arrived more quickly.

Moving on has been a surprising shift, yet “I had decided to depart the Football Association quite a long time ago”, Van Ginhoven says. “I had a contract lasting four years, just as the assistant and head coach had. As they re-signed, I had already said I didn’t know whether I would. I had accepted the thought that after the European Championship I wouldn’t be part of England any more.”

The Euros became a sentimental tournament due to that. “It's sharp in my memory, speaking with Wiegman in which I informed her regarding my plans and after which we agreed: ‘There’s just one dream, what a triumph it would represent that we win the Euros?’ In reality, it's rare that aspirations are realized frequently however, against the odds, it actually happened.”

Dressed in orange, Van Ginhoven holds dual affections following her stint in England, where she was part of winning back-to-back European titles and worked within the manager's team during the Dutch victory the 2017 Euros.

“The national team will always hold an emotional connection for me. Therefore, it will be difficult, notably since that the squad will be arriving for the international camp soon,” she says. “When England plays the Netherlands, where do my loyalties lie? I’m wearing orange at the moment, but tomorrow it’s white.”

A speedboat allows for rapid direction changes. In a small team like this, that is simple to achieve.

The American side was not part of the equation as the management specialist concluded that a new chapter was needed, however the opportunity arose perfectly. Cossington initiated the recruitment and mutual beliefs were crucial.

“Essentially upon meeting we got together we had that click moment,” remarks Van Ginhoven. “We were instantly aligned. Our conversations have been thorough on various topics related to developing women's football and the methods we believe are correct.”

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. Atlético Madrid’s female football technical lead, González, has been introduced as Bay Collective’s new global sporting director.

“I was highly interested to that strong belief regarding the strength of women's football,” she comments. “I'm familiar with Cossington for many years; when I used to work at Fifa, she served as England's technical director, and it’s easy to make these decisions when you are aware you are going to be surrounded by individuals who motivate you.”

The extensive expertise among their staff makes them unique, notes she, as Bay Collective part of a group new multi-club initiatives to launch in recent years. “It's a standout feature of our approach. Various methods are valid, however we strongly feel in having that football knowledge on board,” she adds. “All three of us have traveled a path within the women's game, for most of our lives.”

As their website states, the ambition of Bay Collective is to support and lead an advanced and lasting environment within female football clubs, based on what works for the diverse needs of women. Doing that, with unified understanding, eliminating the need for persuasion for why you would take certain actions, is hugely liberating.

“I compare it with going from a tanker to a speedboat,” states she. “You are essentially navigating through waters that there are no roadmaps for – as we say in the Netherlands, not sure how it comes across – and you must depend on your personal insight and skills to choose wisely. Adjusting course and speeding up is possible with a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, that’s easily done.”

González notes: “In this role, we start with a blank slate to start with. For me, what we do focuses on impacting football on a wider scale and that clean start allows you to do anything you desire, following the sport's regulations. This is the appeal of what we are building together.”

Their goals are lofty, the executives are saying the things players and fans are eager to hear and it will be compelling to monitor the progress of this organization, the club and future additions to the group.

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