Ospreys new home-hunt end at St Helen’s Ground

Article posted by Coliseum, July 12^th, 2024

Image: Ospreys Rugby

The professional rugby union team Ospreys have announced that the St Helen’s Sports Ground in Swansea (UK) has been selected as the club’s preferred location for its new stadium from the 2025-2026 seasons onwards.

‘OSPREYS’ stated that following an extensive search it was announced in May that the options had been narrowed down to St Helen’s and the 8,000-capacity Dunraven Brewery Field in Bridgend (UK). The Ospreys thanked both the rugby team Bridgend Ravens – whose home ground is the Dunraven Brewery Field – and the Bridgend County Borough Council for their outstanding support while the Ospreys were hunting for a venue.

The Ospreys, formerly the Neath-Swansea Ospreys, is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales (UK). They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

The 21,088-capacity Swansea.com Stadium is an all-seated multiuse sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales (UK) hosting both rugby union and football. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It serves as the home ground of the Ospreys.

Dublin (Ireland)-based the United Rugby Championship is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales.

The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union tournament organized by the European Professional Club Rugby. It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a predominantly European league.

Lausanne (Switzerland)-based the European Professional Club Rugby is the governing body and organizer of two major club rugby union tournaments: The European Rugby Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup (annual rugby union competition).

The 4,500-capacity St Helen’s Rugby and Cricket Ground, commonly known simply as the St Helen’s Ground, is a sports venue in Swansea, Wales (UK) owned and operated by the City and County of the Swansea Council. It is used mainly for rugby union and cricket and has been the home ground of the Swansea Rugby Football Club (RFC) and the Swansea Cricket Club since it opened in 1873.

‘OSPREYS’ further stated that the move to St Helen’s not only keeps the Ospreys close to the majority of their supporter and sponsor bases, but also allows them to work with the City and County of the Swansea Council to inject new life into the famous St Helen’s Sports Ground. The rugby union team stated that they feel privileged to have the opportunity to make their home at the ground where the Wales national rugby union team played their first ever international rugby match in 1882.

The Ospreys multimillion pound investment in the site will see the installation of a new 4G pitch (consists of synthetic surface and no infill), new stands, a refurbishment of the club house, and the introduction of a new fan zone area. The aim is to provide the supporters with an unrivaled matchday experience and develop new opportunities for non-matchday events and revenue.

The Swansea RFC and the Swansea University (public research university in Swansea,Wales) will continue to play at St Helen’s and the Ospreys said that it is their ambition for the ground to host an increased number of community games.

The Swansea Cricket Club has been fully engaged in discussions about the redevelopment of the site and an announcement about where they will play their games in the future will be made in due course.

Remarked Lance Bradley, head honcho of Ospreys, “Moving to a ground we can call our own home will be transformational for everyone involved with the club – including the players, the staff, the supporters, and the sponsors. Our investment demonstrates our confidence not only in the plans we have both on and off the pitch, but also our confidence in the future of Welsh rugby and the plans being developed by the Welsh Rugby Union (responsible for the running of Welsh rugby).”

The St Helen’s Sports Ground is owned by the Swansea Council who has ambitious plans to develop the whole area into an elite sports park.

Rob Stewart, Leader of the Council, was pleased with the Ospreys’ decision to select Swansea as their preferred future home – “We’re delighted with the Ospreys announcement that they’d like to return to St Helen’s. It’s something many Ospreys fans will be very excited about. We’ve worked closely with Lance and his team throughout their search for a preferred new home and this is really great news for the City. Swansea is a fantastic location for elite sport with the Swansea University a leader in the field of Sports Science. We have significant ambitions for a Sports Science Park in Swansea and the Ospreys’ aim to commit their long-term future to Swansea aligns with this. We will work hard with them and the others to explore their vision over the coming weeks and months. There remains more work to do but we now have clarity to move forward with the discussions.”

The Ospreys will continue to play their home games at the Swansea.com Stadium for the 2024-2025 seasons and said that they are grateful for the support and understanding they continue to receive from the management and staff of Swansea City.

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