The former England masterminds looking to build a 'superpower'

If something works successfully, it makes sense to try it again.

When the Lionesses won the Euros in 2022 and again in 2025, a key - if widely unheralded - feature was the expertise of Kay Cossington and Anja van Ginhoven.

And the former Football Association employees have since teamed up again at Bay Collective - a multi-club ownership organisation that invests in women's football globally.

Bay Collective is already the majority owner of American club Bay FC - and has its sights set on Europe next.

Cossington heads up the operation as chief executive officer, and recruited Van Ginhoven in October as director of global women's football operations.

"We have big ambitions," Cossington told BBC Sport. "We had big ambitions at the FA and we achieved them, so we're excited for this next chapter."

Cossington and Van Ginhoven hope to take advantage of the $115bn (£87bn) available to them via umbrella company Sixth Street.

Their ambition is big, but simple - to do everything they can to help their clubs win football matches.

When Cossington, who described herself as feeling like "a kid in the candy store", was tasked with recruiting the "best in the world", Van Ginhoven was top of her list.

The former FA general manager worked with England manager Sarina Wiegman across her three Euros title successes - first with the Netherlands in 2017, then the Lionesses in 2022 and 2025.

As soon as Cossington found out Van Ginhoven's intention was not to extend her contract in the summer, she asked her to join her in San Francisco.

"We want to be a global organisation that has levels and standards that are through the roof," said Cossington. "We looked at the very best.

"Anja and her skills are incredibly unique. She understands the business side of a football club, but also the performance aspect.

"She has a proven track record of joining the two together. She was in that pool of top, top talent that we identified.

"It was also a cultural fit. To work with someone who has the same ambition, the same values and is incredibly skilled at their job, it was an easy decision."

It was a big call for Van Ginhoven to leave the FA having worked with Wiegman at Dutch club Den Haag, as well as in the international game.

But she says Bay Collective is "everything she believes in" and she couldn't pass up the opportunity to be reunited with Cossington.

"It is about using the uniqueness of women's football to build clubs and to make players better," Van Ginhoven told BBC Sport.

"If you are connected, you can be a superpower as a team, a club and an organisation to grow women's football in the right way.

"We come from different countries, were raised in different ways, but what brings us together is our journey in women's football and the love for the beautiful sport.

"We think we can bring our expertise in to help women's football. We really want to develop the sport we both love so deeply in the right way."

Before starting her new job, Van Ginhoven was able to celebrate the Lionesses' success at Euro 2025.

"I took a few weeks to slow down a little bit," she said. "The first impressions have been incredible and we will do really cool things together."

Van Ginhoven recalled the moment she told Wiegman she was leaving.

"We said: 'We have a dream - let's do everything and anything we can to finish on a high.' Sometimes I still can't believe it actually happened," she said.

"Sarina and I go a long way back. What I learned the most from her is that she never changed as a person. You adapt to the situation, but that you can truly be that good human being with a high-level of values, no matter what happens in the world around you, I think is super important.

"I saw that very closely and I will carry that with me for the rest of my life."

Cossington had left the FA in May, but had played a major role in the logistics for their time in Switzerland.

Planning basecamps and travel, arranging friendly opposition in the build-up, and making sure Wiegman's squad had all the resources they needed were key.

As she reflects, she says she wasn't surprised by England's success because they had people who "understood the women's game" and believed in a strategy.

"We just obsessed over the processes - how we coached, how we played, how we operated, the facilities, the basecamps and everything else," she said.

"It wasn't just the 1% marginal gains, it was about the 100% gains. It was about everything. We had a strategy that was designed by a group of people who lived the women's game for years.

"That's why I sit here super-confident, knowing that if we take that same methodology into Bay Collective, we're going to be on the right path."