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Midweek, this new ownership entity revealed the appointment of Anja van Ginhoven, England's general manager working with head coach Sarina Wiegman, to serve as their overseer of worldwide women's football activities. The new multi-club ownership body, with the San Francisco-based Bay FC as the inaugural team in its portfolio, has prior experience in bringing in talent from the Football Association.

The hiring this year of Cossington, the well-respected ex-technical director for the FA, as top executive was a signal of intent by this organization. Cossington understands female football thoroughly and currently she has assembled an executive team that possesses extensive knowledge of the evolution of the women's game and packed with professional background.

She marks the third key figure of Wiegman's coaching team to depart this year, following Cossington exiting prior to Euro 2025 and deputy manager, Arjan Veurink, moving on to take up the role of head coach of the Netherlands, however Van Ginhoven's choice was made earlier.

Stepping away was a jarring experience, yet “I’d taken my decision to depart the Football Association well in advance”, she says. “My agreement covering four years, exactly like Veurink and Wiegman had. As they re-signed, I previously indicated I wasn't sure if I would do the same. I was already used to the notion that after the European Championship my time with England would end.”

The European Championship became a sentimental tournament due to that. “It's sharp in my memory, discussing with Sarina in which I informed her of my choice 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 aspirations are realized frequently however, remarkably, ours came true.”

Sitting in an orange T-shirt, she holds dual affections post her tenure working in England, where she was part of winning back-to-back European titles and worked within the coaching setup for the Netherlands’ triumph the 2017 Euros.

“The English side retains a special place in my heart. So, it’s going to be tough, notably since that the squad are scheduled to come for national team duty in the near future,” she says. “Whenever the two nations face off, where do my loyalties lie? Today I have on orange, but tomorrow it’s white.”

A speedboat allows for rapid direction changes. In a lean group like this one, that’s easily done.

Bay FC was not initially considered as the organisational wizard was deciding that a new chapter was needed, but the opportunity arose at the right time. Cossington started to bring people in and their shared values proved essential.

“Almost from the very first moment we met we felt immediate synergy,” remarks Van Ginhoven. “We were instantly aligned. We have spoken at length 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 relocate from well-known positions in the European game for a blank sheet of paper in the United States. Atlético Madrid’s women’s technical director, González, has been introduced as the group's global sporting director.

“I was very attracted by the firm conviction 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 was the technical director of England, and decisions like this come naturally knowing you will have around you colleagues who drive you.”

The depth of knowledge in their team distinguishes them, explains Van Ginhoven, for the collective one of several new multi-club initiatives that have started over the past few years. “That’s one of our unique selling points. It’s OK that people do things in different ways, but we are firm in our belief in having that football knowledge on board,” she adds. “All three of us have traveled a path in women’s football, for most of our lives.”

As outlined on their site, the mission of this group is to advocate and innovate a forward-thinking and durable system within female football clubs, founded on effective practices to meet the varied requirements of women. Succeeding in this, with collective agreement, eliminating the need for persuasion regarding certain decisions, provides great freedom.

“I equate it to going from a tanker to a speedboat,” states she. “You’re basically driving in uncharted waters – that’s a Dutch saying, not sure how it comes across – and it's necessary to trust your personal insight and skills to make the right decision. You can pivot and accelerate rapidly using a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, that is simple to achieve.”

González adds: “With this opportunity, we begin with a clean canvas to work from. In my view, our mission is about influencing the game more extensively and that white paper permits you to undertake whatever you want, adhering to football's guidelines. That’s the beauty of our joint endeavor.”

The aspirations are significant, the management are expressing sentiments players and fans are eager to hear and it will be fascinating to monitor the progress of Bay Collective, Bay FC and any clubs added to the portfolio.

As a preview of upcoming developments, what are the key aspects for a top-level environment? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve