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On Wednesday, Bay Collective announced the recruitment of England’s general manager under Sarina Wiegman, Anja van Ginhoven, as their director of global women’s football operations. The new multi-club ownership body, with San Francisco’s Bay FC the first club in its portfolio, has previous in recruiting from the Football Association.
The appointment this year of Kay Cossington, the influential former FA technical director, as the chief executive was a signal of intent from Bay Collective. Cossington knows women’s football inside out and now she has assembled a leadership team with a deep understanding of women’s football history and laden with experience.
Van Ginhoven is the third core member of Wiegman’s setup to exit this year, with Cossington departing before Euro 2025 and the assistant manager, Arjan Veurink, leaving to become head coach of the Netherlands, but her decision came sooner.
Stepping away has been a shock to the system, but “I’d taken my decision to leave the FA quite a long time ago”, Van Ginhoven says. “I had a contract for four years, just as Arjan and Sarina did. When they renewed, I had already said I didn’t know whether I would. I was already used to the whole idea that post-Euros I wouldn’t be part of England any more.”
The Euros was an emotional tournament as a result. “I remember very clearly, vividly, having a conversation with Sarina where I basically told her about my decision and then we said: ‘There’s just one dream, how amazing would it be that we win the Euros?’ In life, it’s not like dreams come true every day but, absolutely incredibly, this one did.”
Sitting in an orange T-shirt, Van Ginhoven has divided loyalties after her time in England, where she was part of winning back-to-back European titles and was a part of Wiegman’s staff for the Netherlands’ triumph at Euro 2017.
“England will forever have a special place in my heart. So, it’s going to be tough, particularly now knowing that the players will be arriving for the international camp soon,” she says. “When England plays the Netherlands, who do I support? I’m wearing orange at the moment, but tomorrow it’s white.”
Bay FC was not part of the equation when the organisational wizard was deciding it was time to move on, but the pieces fell into place at the right time. Cossington started to bring people in and their shared values were key.
“Almost from the very first moment we met we had that click moment,” says Van Ginhoven. “You’re immediately on the same level. We have spoken at length about different things around how you grow the game and what we think is the right way.”
Cossington and Van Ginhoven are not the only figures to uproot themselves from high-profile jobs in the European game for a blank sheet of paper in the United States. Atlético Madrid’s women’s technical director, Patricia González, has been unveiled as Bay Collective’s new global sporting director.
“I was very attracted to that strong belief of the power of the women’s game,” González says. “I have known Kay 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 know you are going to be surrounded by people who really inspire you.”
The depth of knowledge in their team sets them apart, says Van Ginhoven, with Bay Collective one of several new multi-club initiatives to launch in recent years. “That’s one of our unique selling points. It’s OK that people do things in different ways, but we definitely believe in having that football knowledge on board,” she says. “All three of us have been on a journey in women’s football, probably for the best part of our lives.”
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As their website states, the ambition of Bay Collective is to champion and pioneer a progressive and sustainable ecosystem of women’s football clubs, based on what works for the diverse needs of women. Doing that, with everyone on the same page, with no need to make the case for why you would take certain actions, is hugely liberating.
“I compare it with going from a tanker to a speedboat,” says Van Ginhoven. “You’re basically driving through waters that there are no roadmaps for – that’s a Dutch saying, I don’t know if it translates – and you just need to rely on your own knowledge and expertise to make the right decision. You can change direction and move quickly in a speedboat. In a small team like this, that’s easily done.”
González adds: “Here, we have a completely white sheet of paper to start with. For me, what we do is about influencing the game on a much broader level and that white paper allows you to do whatever you want, within the rules of the game. That’s the beauty of what we are building together.”
The ambition is high, those in leading roles are saying the things players and fans want to hear and it will be interesting to follow the development of Bay Collective, Bay FC and any clubs added to the portfolio.
For a flavour of what is to come, what are the key aspects of a high-performance environment? “It all starts and ends with the football and people,” says Van Ginhoven. “You can have the greatest hotel, the greatest training facility but, ultimately, it’s the people that make the difference because otherwise they are just empty shells. Having great people, good leadership and being super clear on roles and responsibilities are the main three things to create a really good high-performance culture.”
González adds: “It’s very important to put the players at the centre and that every decision taken is for the good of the players and their development. A high-performance environment also needs a high level of trust. When you do that, people feel that they are in a safe environment to make decisions, to speak up, to share their opinions, and that is hugely impactful and is when special things happen.”
