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This past Wednesday, Bay Collective revealed the recruitment of Anja van Ginhoven, the English national team's managerial lead under head coach Sarina Wiegman, as their global women's football operations director. This freshly established collective club ownership initiative, which includes San Francisco’s Bay FC as its inaugural team within its group, has a history in bringing in talent from the national football governing body.

The hiring earlier this year of Cossington, the influential former FA technical director, as top executive acted as a signal of intent by this organization. Cossington understands the women's game thoroughly and currently has put together a leadership team with a deep understanding of the history of women's football and filled with experience.

Van Ginhoven becomes the third core member of Wiegman's coaching team to depart this year, with Cossington exiting prior to the European Championships and assistant coach, Veurink, leaving to become head coach of the Dutch national team, but her decision arrived more quickly.

Moving on proved to be a jarring experience, yet “I had decided to leave the FA well in advance”, she explains. “The terms lasting four years, similar to the assistant and head coach did. As they re-signed, I had expressed I wasn't sure whether I would. I had accepted the whole idea that after the European Championship I wouldn’t be part of England any more.”

The European Championship became a deeply felt event as a result. “It's sharp in my memory, speaking with the head coach where I basically told her about my decision and we then remarked: ‘There’s just one dream, how incredible it would be if we were to win the European Championship?’ Generally, dreams don't dreams come true every day but, absolutely incredibly, it actually happened.”

Wearing a Netherlands-colored shirt, Van Ginhoven experiences split allegiances following her stint in England, where she helped achieve securing consecutive European championships and was a part of the coaching setup during the Dutch victory in the 2017 European Championship.

“The English side will always hold an emotional connection for me. So, it will be challenging, especially with the knowledge that the team will be arriving for the upcoming fixtures shortly,” she says. “When England plays the Netherlands, where do my loyalties lie? I’m wearing orange at the moment, but tomorrow I'll be in white.”

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

Bay FC was not in the plans as the organisational wizard was deciding that a new chapter was needed, however the pieces fell into place perfectly. Cossington initiated the recruitment and common principles were crucial.

“Virtually from the start we connected we experienced an instant connection,” remarks Van Ginhoven. “There was immediate understanding. We've discussed extensively about different things related to developing women's football and our shared vision for the right approach.”

These executives are among several to uproot themselves from high-profile jobs within European football for an uncharted opportunity in the US. Atlético Madrid’s female football technical lead, González, has been introduced as the organization's new global sporting director.

“I was very attracted in the deep faith regarding the strength of women's football,” González says. “I'm familiar with Cossington for a long time; when I used to work at Fifa, she was the technical director of England, and such choices are straightforward when you are aware you are going to be surrounded by colleagues who drive you.”

The depth of knowledge in their team makes them unique, notes Van Ginhoven, with Bay Collective one of several fresh club ownership ventures that have started over the past few years. “That’s one of our unique selling points. Different approaches are acceptable, however we strongly feel in having that football knowledge on board,” she says. “The entire leadership have traveled a path in women’s football, throughout our careers.”

According to their online statement, the goal of Bay Collective is to advocate and innovate a progressive and sustainable ecosystem within female football clubs, founded on effective practices addressing the different demands of women in sport. Succeeding in this, with everyone on the same page, eliminating the need for persuasion for why you would take certain actions, is incredibly freeing.

“I equate it to moving from a large ship to a fast boat,” remarks she. “You're journeying through waters that there are no roadmaps for – as we say in the Netherlands, I'm unsure if it translates well – and it's necessary to trust your personal insight and skills to choose wisely. You can change direction and move quickly using a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, that is simple to achieve.”

She adds: “In this role, we start with a blank slate to work from. For me, what we do involves shaping the sport on a much broader level and that clean start enables you to pursue whatever you want, adhering to football's guidelines. That’s the beauty of our collective project.”

The ambition is high, the management are saying the things the football community are eager to hear and it will be fascinating to follow the development of Bay Collective, the team and future additions to the group.

As a preview of upcoming developments, 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