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Midweek, this new ownership entity revealed the appointment of Anja van Ginhoven, the English national team's managerial lead under Sarina Wiegman, to serve as their global women's football operations director. This freshly established multi-team ownership group, which includes Bay FC of San Francisco as its inaugural team within its group, has prior experience in bringing in talent from the national football governing body.

The appointment in recent months of Kay Cossington, the prominent former FA technical director, as top executive served as a demonstration of ambition by Bay Collective. Cossington knows female football comprehensively and now has put together a leadership team with a deep understanding of the evolution of the women's game and filled with experience.

She marks the third key figure of Wiegman’s setup to depart recently, following the chief executive departing before the Euros and the assistant manager, Veurink, moving on to take up the role of manager of Holland, but her decision was made earlier.

Stepping away was a shock to the system, yet “My choice was made to depart the Football Association some time back”, she explains. “My agreement for four years, just as Veurink and Wiegman had. When they renewed, I had already said I didn’t know if I would do the same. I had grown accustomed to the whole idea that post-Euros my time with England would end.”

The Euros became a deeply felt event as a result. “I remember very clearly, vividly, discussing with Sarina when I disclosed of my choice and then we said: ‘Our ultimate aspiration, what a triumph it would represent if we were to win the European Championship?’ In reality, it’s not like aspirations are realized frequently yet, against the odds, ours came true.”

Dressed in orange, she has divided loyalties after her time in England, where she was part of winning back-to-back European titles and worked within the manager's team during the Dutch victory at Euro 2017.

“England will always hold an emotional connection for me. So, it will be difficult, notably since that the squad are due to arrive for the international camp shortly,” she says. “In matches between England and the Netherlands, which side do I back? I’m wearing orange at the moment, though tomorrow English white.”

In a speedboat, you can pivot and accelerate swiftly. With a compact team such as ours, that’s easily done.

The American side was not initially considered when the organisational wizard determined it was time to move on, but the pieces fell into place perfectly. Cossington started to bring people in and their shared values were key.

“Almost from the very first moment we got together we experienced an instant connection,” says she. “You’re immediately on the same level. Our conversations have been thorough on various topics around how you grow the game and our shared vision for the right approach.”

Cossington and Van Ginhoven are not alone to make a move from well-known positions within European football for an uncharted opportunity across the Atlantic. Atlético Madrid’s technical director for women's football, González, has been introduced as Bay Collective’s worldwide sports director.

“I felt strongly drawn by the firm conviction regarding the strength of the women’s game,” she comments. “I've been acquainted with Kay Cossington for a long time; back when I was with Fifa, she held the technical director role for England, and decisions like this come naturally when you know you will have around you people who really inspire you.”

The extensive expertise within their group distinguishes them, notes Van Ginhoven, for the collective part of a group recent multi-team projects to launch over the past few years. “It's a standout feature of our approach. Various methods are valid, but we definitely believe in incorporating football expertise,” she states. “All three of us have been on a journey within the women's game, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As their website states, the goal for the collective is to champion and pioneer a forward-thinking and durable system for women's football clubs, based on what works addressing the different demands of women. Doing that, with collective agreement, 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,” states she. “You're journeying across unmapped territories – 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. You can change direction and move quickly using a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, that’s easily done.”

González adds: “Here, we start with a blank slate to build upon. Personally, our work is about influencing the game on a much broader level and that clean start allows you to do whatever you want, adhering to football's guidelines. That is the advantage of our joint endeavor.”

The ambition is high, the executives are saying the things players and fans are eager to hear and it will be interesting to observe the evolution of the collective, Bay FC and future additions to the group.

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