Ospreys chief executive Lance Bradley is leaving the club — months before it moves into the St Helen’s home he helped secure.
The region announced his departure today, saying Bradley had decided to step back from the Welsh rugby environment after two and a half years.
His exit comes on the eve of the club’s biggest fresh start in a generation — its first season at a redeveloped St Helen’s, with work under way on a new South Stand, revamped West Stand and fan zone.
The move Bradley oversaw was years in the making — St Helen’s was named the club’s preferred home in July 2024 after a battle with Bridgend’s Dunraven Brewery Field, with the planning application following in June 2025. The redevelopment is being delivered in phases so the club can play there throughout the 2026/27 season.
It hands the Ospreys one of the most storied grounds in Wales — a venue that hosted rugby and cricket at the highest level for well over a century, where Gareth Edwards and Barry John played some of their finest rugby, and where Swansea RFC bade farewell to the famous turf in April before the handover.
Bradley said he was leaving the shirt in a better place than he found it.
“When I joined in 2024 we had no stadium, our finances were in poor shape and although we had a loyal hardcore of fans, their numbers were dwindling,” he said.
“Next season we move into our own stadium at St Helen’s, our finances are looking better than ever, and season ticket sales are already by far the best they’ve been for more than a decade.”
He said the playing side was “developing nicely — building on our status as Wales’ most successful Region.”
Bradley acknowledged “an incredibly challenging last 12 months” — a period in which the club’s very existence came under threat.
In February, Swansea Council went to the High Court seeking an injunction to stop a WRU–Y11 deal it said would end the Ospreys as a professional side, while fans launched a 10,000-signature petition and Michael Sheen joined the calls for a rethink.
WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood announced his departure in March, and after an Extraordinary General Meeting the union performed its U-turn — offering the Ospreys and Scarlets professional rugby agreements in what campaigners called “a massive victory.”
Three months ago the club unveiled its St Helen’s redevelopment plans, calling it the end of the most turbulent chapter in its history.
Thanking everyone at the club “for their friendship and support,” Bradley said he wished “the very best for the club in the future.”
The Ospreys said they wished to put on record their thanks to Bradley for what he achieved as chief executive, and would announce his replacement in due course.
