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On Wednesday, Bay Collective announced the appointment of Van Ginhoven, England's general manager under head coach Sarina Wiegman, to serve as their director of global women’s football operations. The new multi-club ownership body, featuring Bay FC of San Francisco as its inaugural team in its portfolio, has prior experience in hiring individuals from the English FA.

The selection in recent months of Kay Cossington, the well-respected ex-technical director for the FA, as the chief executive was a demonstration of ambition from the collective. She understands the women's game thoroughly and now has put together an executive team that possesses extensive knowledge of the history of women's football and filled with experience.

She is the third key figure of the manager's inner circle to exit recently, following Cossington leaving before Euro 2025 and deputy manager, Arjan Veurink, stepping down to become head manager of Holland, but Van Ginhoven's choice came sooner.

Stepping away proved to be a surprising shift, but “My choice was made to leave the FA well in advance”, she states. “I had a contract lasting four years, exactly like the assistant and head coach had. As they re-signed, I previously indicated I wasn't sure about renewing myself. I had accepted the thought that post-Euros my time with England would end.”

The European Championship turned into a sentimental event because of this. “I recall distinctly, discussing with Sarina in which I informed her about my decision and after which we agreed: ‘We share a single dream, how incredible it would be to clinch the European title?’ Generally, it's rare that aspirations are realized frequently but, absolutely incredibly, it actually happened.”

Dressed in orange, she experiences split allegiances following her stint working in England, during which she contributed to securing consecutive European championships and worked within the manager's team when the Netherlands won the 2017 Euros.

“England will forever have a special place in my heart. So, it will be difficult, particularly now knowing that the squad will be arriving for national team duty shortly,” she says. “Whenever the two nations face off, who do I support? Right now I'm in Dutch colors, but tomorrow it’s white.”

A speedboat allows for rapid direction changes. With a compact team such as ours, it's effortless to accomplish.

The American side was not part of the equation as the strategic expert concluded that it was time for a change, however everything aligned perfectly. The chief executive began assembling the team and their shared values were key.

“Essentially upon meeting we connected we felt immediate synergy,” states Van Ginhoven. “We were instantly aligned. We've discussed extensively about different things around how you grow the game and what we think is the right way.”

The two leaders are not the only figures to relocate from prominent roles within European football for a fresh start in the US. Atlético Madrid’s women’s technical director, Patricia González, has been introduced as Bay Collective’s worldwide sports director.

“I felt strongly drawn to that strong belief in the potential of women's football,” she comments. “I'm familiar with Cossington for a long time; when I used to work at Fifa, she was the technical director of England, and it’s easy to make these decisions when you are aware you will have around you people who really inspire you.”

The extensive expertise within their group distinguishes them, explains Van Ginhoven, for the collective one of several recent multi-team projects which have emerged lately. “That’s one of our unique selling points. It’s OK that people do things in different ways, but we definitely believe in ensuring deep football understanding,” she adds. “Each of us have been on a journey within the women's game, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As outlined on their site, the ambition of this group is to support and lead an advanced and lasting environment of women’s football clubs, based on what works addressing the different demands of women in sport. Achieving this, with everyone on the same page, without having to justify actions regarding certain decisions, provides great freedom.

“I liken it to transitioning from a tanker to a speedboat,” says she. “You are essentially navigating across unmapped territories – a common Dutch expression, I'm unsure if it translates well – and it's necessary to trust your own knowledge and expertise for making correct choices. Adjusting course and speeding up is possible using a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, that is simple to achieve.”

She continues: “With this opportunity, we start with a blank slate to build upon. Personally, our mission focuses on impacting football on a wider scale and that white paper permits you to undertake whatever you want, adhering to football's guidelines. That’s the beauty of what we are building together.”

Their goals are lofty, the management are expressing sentiments the football community hope to hear and it will be compelling to observe the evolution of this organization, the team and other teams that may join.

To get a sense of future plans, 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