🔗 Share this article

On Wednesday, the Bay Collective group disclosed the hiring of Van Ginhoven, the English national team's managerial lead under Sarina Wiegman, as their director of global women’s football operations. The new multi-team ownership group, featuring Bay FC of San Francisco as its initial addition among its holdings, has previously engaged in hiring individuals from the national football governing body.

The selection in recent months of Cossington, the influential ex-technical director for the FA, to the CEO role was a signal of intent from the collective. Cossington understands women’s football inside out and now has put together an executive team with profound insight of the history of women's football and packed with experience.

Van Ginhoven is the third key figure of Wiegman's coaching team to exit recently, with the chief executive leaving before Euro 2025 and the assistant manager, Arjan Veurink, moving on to become manager of the Dutch national team, however her decision was made earlier.

Moving on has been a surprising shift, yet “I’d taken my decision to depart the Football Association quite a long time ago”, Van Ginhoven states. “My agreement lasting four years, exactly like Veurink and Wiegman had. When they renewed, I had expressed I didn’t know if I would do the same. I had accepted the notion that after the European Championship my time with England would end.”

The European Championship turned into a deeply felt event due to that. “I recall distinctly, discussing with Wiegman where I basically told her about my decision and then we said: ‘We share a single dream, what a triumph it would represent to clinch the European title?’ In life, dreams don't dreams come true every day but, remarkably, this one did.”

Sitting in an orange T-shirt, Van Ginhoven has divided loyalties following her stint working in England, during which she contributed to claiming two Euros in a row and was a part of Wiegman’s staff during the Dutch victory the 2017 Euros.

“The English side will forever have an emotional connection for me. So, it’s going to be tough, notably since that the team are scheduled to come for the upcoming fixtures soon,” she notes. “Whenever the two nations face off, where do my loyalties lie? Today I have on orange, but tomorrow it’s white.”

You can change direction and move quickly in a speedboat. In a small team like this, it's effortless to accomplish.

Bay FC was not in the plans when the strategic expert determined it was time to move on, but the opportunity arose opportunely. Cossington started to bring people in and common principles were key.

“Essentially upon meeting we got together we experienced an instant connection,” says she. “We were instantly aligned. We have spoken at length on various topics concerning growing the sport and our shared vision for the right approach.”

These executives are not the only figures to uproot themselves from high-profile jobs in Europe's football scene for a blank sheet of paper across the Atlantic. Atlético Madrid’s technical director for women's football, González, has been announced as the organization's new global sporting director.

“I was highly interested to that strong belief regarding the strength of the women’s game,” González comments. “I'm familiar with Cossington for a long time; when I used to work at Fifa, she held the technical director role for England, and such choices are straightforward knowing you are going to be surrounded by colleagues who drive you.”

The depth of knowledge among their staff distinguishes them, notes Van Ginhoven, with Bay Collective among a number fresh club ownership ventures which have emerged lately. “This is a key differentiator for us. Various methods are valid, however we strongly feel in ensuring deep football understanding,” she states. “The entire leadership have been on a journey within the women's game, throughout our careers.”

As their website states, the ambition of Bay Collective is to champion and pioneer a forward-thinking and durable system of women’s football clubs, built on proven methods to meet the varied requirements of female athletes. Doing that, with everyone on the same page, without having to justify actions for specific initiatives, is incredibly freeing.

“I liken it to going from a tanker to a speedboat,” remarks she. “You're journeying through waters that there are no roadmaps for – that’s a Dutch saying, I don’t know if it translates – and it's necessary to trust your own knowledge and expertise for making correct choices. Adjusting course and speeding up is possible in a speedboat. In a small team like this, that’s easily done.”

González adds: “In this role, we start with a blank slate to build upon. In my view, our mission focuses on impacting football more extensively and that clean start enables you to pursue anything you desire, adhering to football's guidelines. That’s the beauty of our collective project.”

Their goals are lofty, those in leading roles are saying the things players and fans are eager to hear and it will be interesting to follow the development of the collective, the club and other teams that may join.

To get a sense of future plans, what are the key aspects in a high-performance setting? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve