The man who put his own money behind the Ospreys when Neath and Swansea were merged in 2003 has been made president of the region.
Mike James, the Ospreys’ founding chairman, played second row for Swansea RFC before chairing the club through the early professional years. The presidency, the club says, is its highest honour.
It comes a week after the Ospreys played their first game back at the rebuilt St Helen’s, where James chaired the advisory group on the new ground.
He said: “Watching the club come back to play at St Helen’s, with the city coming together behind it, has rejuvenated everyone. My contribution is a small part of that, alongside the dedicated work of many others.”
From the All Whites to the Ospreys
James was on the Swansea committee when the WRU Cup came to St Helen’s in 1978, and was chairman when the game went professional in the 1990s, a spell the club describes as one of the most turbulent in Welsh rugby.
When the two clubs became the Ospreys in 2003, he became the region’s first chairman and, with his business partner Robert Davies, its main backer. Roger Blyth, a director and former Wales full-back, says the pair invested millions of pounds.
Under James the Ospreys won four league titles and, in 2006, beat Australia 24-16, which the club says made them the first Welsh region to beat a major touring side.
The club points to what followed: 181 Six Nations selections for Wales since 2008, more than any other region by its count, 47 Rugby World Cup selections, 22 Lions selections and seven Wales captains.
‘Mike James is Swansea rugby’
James Davies-Yandle, chairman and chief executive of the club’s owners, said: “Mike James is Swansea rugby. He pulled on the white jersey at St Helen’s, he sat on the committee when the WRU Cup came home in 1978, he chaired the club through the hardest years of the professional era and then he put his own money and his reputation on the line to build the Ospreys.”
He added: “Very few people have given so much, for so long, and asked for so little in return.” When Y11 Sport & Media arrived in Swansea, he said, James gave wise counsel “freely”.
Blyth played alongside James at St Helen’s, and the club lists him as Swansea’s second-highest points scorer of all time. He said: “I can say with some authority that there has never been a more committed Swansea man.”
He said James’ professional expertise had “driven the work and the outcome we see at St Helen’s today”, and described him as “direct” and “a leader who always sees the humour in life, especially under pressure”.
A presidency in a season of firsts
James thanked his wife Cynthia “for her support and her great patience”, along with his sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and said the club “has figured hugely in my life and that of my family”.
He said it was “an honour to be made president in this modern era”, and that helping Y11 shape the club’s future had been “very satisfying”.
The honour lands with the Ospreys still fighting the Scarlets for the last west Wales licence under the WRU’s cut from four teams to three, a decision the union says will come by the end of June 2027.
The club’s answer has been St Helen’s. The league’s chief executive said this week that season tickets and sponsorship had doubled on last year, and the Ospreys host Cardiff there tonight at 7.45pm.
Discover more from Swansea Bay News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
