Welsh United Rugby Championship (URC) club Ospreys has selected St Helen’s Sports Ground in Swansea as its preferred location for a new stadium from the 2025-26 season onwards.
The club announced in May that it had identified the St Helen’s site and Dunraven Brewery Field in Bridgend as two potential options for its future home, and the former has now been selected.
Ospreys has played at Swansea.com Stadium, home of Championship football club Swansea City, since the venue opened in 2005, but announced in January that it would seek to leave in order to play at a smaller facility more suited to the club’s needs.
Ospreys said its move to St Helen’s will keep the club close to the majority of its supporter and sponsor bases, while allowing it to work with the City and County of Swansea Council to “inject new life” into the St Helen’s Sports Ground.
The club has proposed a multi-million-pound investment into the site, which will be fitted with a new 4G pitch, new stands, a refurbished clubhouse, and a new fan zone area. Ospreys will aim to provide fans with an enhanced matchday experience and develop new opportunities for non-matchday events and revenue.
St Helen’s will continue to serve as the home of Swansea RFC and Swansea University, with Ospreys expressing a wish to host more community games at the ground. St Helen’s is also currently used by Swansea Cricket Club, which has been engaged in discussions about the redevelopment of the ground.
The ground is owned by Swansea Council, which plans on developing the entire St Helen’s site into an “elite” sports park. Ospreys will continue playing at Swansea.com Stadium for the 2024-25 season.
Ospreys chief executive Lance Bradley said: “Moving to a ground we can call our own home will be transformational for everyone involved with the club – including players, staff, supporters and 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.”
Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart added: “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 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’ll work hard with them and 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 discussions.”
