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On Wednesday, this new ownership entity announced the hiring of Van Ginhoven, the English national team's general manager working with head coach Sarina Wiegman, as their director of global women’s football operations. The new collective club ownership initiative, which includes San Francisco’s Bay FC as its initial addition within its group, has prior experience in recruiting from the English FA.

The appointment earlier this year of Kay Cossington, the influential former FA technical director, as top executive acted as a demonstration of ambition from the collective. Cossington is deeply familiar with the women's game inside out and now she has assembled a management group with a deep understanding of the evolution of the women's game and packed with professional background.

Van Ginhoven becomes the third key figure of Wiegman's coaching team to exit in the current year, following Cossington departing before the European Championships and deputy manager, Arjan Veurink, leaving to assume the position of manager of the Dutch national team, however her decision came sooner.

Moving on proved to be a surprising shift, yet “I’d taken my decision to depart the Football Association quite a long time ago”, Van Ginhoven says. “The terms lasting four years, similar to Arjan and Sarina did. As they re-signed, I had expressed I wasn't sure about renewing myself. I had grown accustomed to the whole idea that post-Euros my time with England would end.”

The tournament became a deeply felt event as a result. “I recall distinctly, speaking with the head coach when I disclosed of my choice and then we said: ‘We share a single dream, how amazing would it be if we were to win the European Championship?’ In life, it’s not like hopes materialize often yet, absolutely incredibly, it actually happened.”

Wearing a Netherlands-colored shirt, she experiences split allegiances post her tenure in England, where she was part of winning back-to-back European titles and served on the manager's team when the Netherlands won in the 2017 European Championship.

“The English side will forever have a dear spot in my heart. So, it will be difficult, especially with the knowledge that the squad are due to arrive for national team duty shortly,” she comments. “In matches between England and the Netherlands, who do I support? I’m wearing orange at the moment, but tomorrow I'll be in white.”

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

The club was not initially considered when the organisational wizard concluded that a new chapter was needed, however everything aligned opportunely. Cossington began assembling the team and mutual beliefs were crucial.

“Virtually from the start we got together we felt immediate synergy,” says she. “There was immediate understanding. We have spoken at length about different things around how you grow the game and our shared vision for the right approach.”

The two leaders are among several to uproot themselves from high-profile jobs within European football for a blank sheet of paper across the Atlantic. The Spanish club's technical director for women's football, Patricia González, has been unveiled as Bay Collective’s new global sporting director.

“I was highly interested to that strong belief of the power within the female sport,” González says. “I have known Kay Cossington for many years; when I used to work at Fifa, she served as England's technical director, and it’s easy to make these decisions knowing you'll be working alongside individuals who motivate you.”

The depth of knowledge in their team makes them unique, notes Van Ginhoven, as Bay Collective among a number new multi-club initiatives to launch over the past few years. “It's a standout feature of our approach. Various methods are valid, however we strongly feel in incorporating football expertise,” she states. “All three of us have traveled a path in women’s football, probably for the best part of our lives.”

As their website states, the ambition for the collective is to support and lead an advanced and lasting environment of women’s football clubs, founded on effective practices for the diverse needs of female athletes. Doing that, with collective agreement, with no need to make the case for why you would take certain actions, is hugely liberating.

“I compare it with moving from a large ship to a fast boat,” remarks Van Ginhoven. “You're journeying in uncharted waters – that’s a Dutch saying, not sure how it comes across – and you just need to rely on your own knowledge and expertise for making correct choices. You can change direction and move quickly with a speedboat. Within a compact team such as ours, that’s easily done.”

She adds: “In this role, we start with a blank slate to build upon. For me, our mission involves shaping the sport more extensively and that clean start enables you to pursue anything you desire, within the rules of the game. That is the advantage of what we are building together.”

Their goals are lofty, those in leading roles are saying the things athletes and supporters hope to hear and it will be compelling to monitor the progress of the collective, the team and any clubs added to the portfolio.

For a flavour of what is to come, which elements are crucial in a high-performance setting? “{It all starts and ends with|Everything begins and concludes with|The foundation and culmination involve