Businesses deflated over Ospreys uncertain future

Richard Youle

Uncertainty surrounding the long-term future of the Ospreys as a regional side has left businesses near the Swansea ground the club are planning to move to feeling deflated.

For months there’s been excitement about a redeveloped St Helen’s and extra footfall on match days after the Ospreys announced they would relocate there with backing from Swansea Council, which owns the seafront venue.

But with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) keen to reduce the number of regional sides from four to three – with one in Cardiff, one in the east and one in the west – and the Ospreys’ owners in negotiations with the WRU as the preferred bidder to buy Cardiff Rugby from the governing body, anticipation is dissipating.

The Ospreys have said no decisions have been made regarding the club’s future past next season, but according to the council the intended direction is that there wouldn’t be a professional Ospreys team playing regional rugby at St Helen’s should the owners’ acquisition of Cardiff Rugby proceed.

The council is seeking an injunction to stop the deal going ahead so that further discussions could take place while the current four‑team regional structure remained in place. It has also asked the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate.

Alec Merriman, co-owner of cafe, bar and restaurant Hoogah, on Brynymor Road, said: “We’ve been running a business in the area since 2017 and we love it. But you can always do with a bit of extra help.

“The area could do with a spark and the St Helen’s redevelopment would certainly have provided that. We do well with council workers and the (nearby) courts but having 100-plus extra jobs on your doorstep was an exciting prospect. That’s before considering match day.”

Mr Merriman, who is an Ospreys supporter, added: “And the location of St Helen’s is just special, I find myself on Friday evenings just imagining the buzz and excitement of a game day.

“I was looking forward to going to games and getting stuck in and becoming a part of the Ospreys community as a business.”

He said he envisioned Hoogah opening later when there was a home match on New Year’s Day and joining the crowd to watch the game.

Swansea RFC have left St Helen’s this season, Swansea Cricket Club departed at the end of last summer, and planning permission to redevelop St Helen’s into an 8,000-plus capacity venue is in place. “It’s there, good to go,” said Mr Merriman.

A few doors down from Hoogah, Woodrow’s Coffee owner Tom Woodrow said one of the reasons he took on the empty unit in October 2024 was because of the Ospreys’ St Helen’s move.

He works six days a week and has made plans to open a hatch to serve baked potatoes on match days. “We would be nice and busy,” he said: “The trouble at the moment is the uncertainty.”

He said the overall feeling he got was that the Ospreys move to a redeveloped St Helen’s wasn’t going to happen. He described the ongoing situation more than anything as “disappointing for Welsh rugby”.

Mr Woodrow said Brynymor Road and the surrounding area was great, and that students were key. “Business drops off when they’re not here,” he said.

Deflating

A member of staff at The Westbourne pub, Brynymor Road, said: “We’ve been waiting for the Ospreys to come for over a year. Because we are so close to St Helen’s and are seen as a rugby pub, it would increase our customer base. Not knowing what’s happening is deflating a little bit.”

The are those that argue that Wales lacks enough talent and finances to sustain four strong professional rugby teams and that bold action is necessary and unavoidable, although pain would be felt by whoever fell by the wayside.

The Ospreys declined to comment when contacted about the views of nearby businesses by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.