Swansea Council has set out the full detail of the £7.6 million St Helen’s redevelopment for the first time — a near-7,000 capacity stadium with a new seafront stand, a fan zone and a rebuilt community clubhouse.
The written answer also confirms the ground is being designed to meet the standards required for URC and European competition “in anticipation of the WRU‘s proposals to reduce the number of regions from four to three”.
The detail came in an answer from Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart at Thursday’s full council meeting, fleshing out the up-to-£5.1 million commitment the council made last year to secure the ground as the Ospreys‘ home.
(Image: Ospreys)
The WRU’s decision on cutting a west Wales region has been delayed again while the governing body searches for a new chair.
The Ospreys signed Welsh rugby’s new Professional Rugby Agreement earlier this year — but the possibility of a cut remained on the table.
According to the written answer, a new 3G pitch will be repositioned closer to a newly-covered terrace, which the council says will improve the atmosphere and spectator experience.
(Image: Ospreys)
The existing stand will be relocated to the Mumbles end of the ground, with a new 1,000-seat stand replacing it on the seafront side.
A new fan zone and hospitality offer at the Guildhall end is intended, the answer says, to create a focal point for matchdays and year-round activity.
In return for its investment, the council will take the freehold of the clubhouse and changing rooms on Bryn Road — which will then be incorporated into the lease issued to the Ospreys, giving the authority what it describes as a long-term interest in the site for future generations.
The council says its funding secures community use of the facility for around 90 per cent of available hours outside major fixtures.
An existing agreement with Swansea RFC — the All Whites — for continued use of the ground will be honoured, the answer states.
The rebuilt clubhouse will offer modern changing facilities, accessible amenities and flexible indoor spaces, open to clubs, schools and community groups, with the potential to host non-sporting events and functions.
The council says the venue will also support training and skills development in other sports, including football, athletics and disability sport, operating as a “bookable space” to help sustain it as a community facility.
The answer describes the scheme as a “modern, multi-use sports stadium and year-round community hub” with multigenerational use and academy-style programmes.
Cricket, played at the ground for a century and a half, is not part of the new St Helen’s. Swansea Cricket Club — a tenant since 1875 — left after the 2025 season, with the council supporting the club’s move to an upgraded facility at Sketty Lane.
The Sketty Lane site is itself the subject of wider plans for a £150m sport and health superhub, with facilities across the Swansea Bay Sports Park being brought under a single operator.
Work at the ground is already under way, with the famous floodlights — including what was long said to be Europe’s tallest, taken down last month after more than 60 years.
Whatever the WRU decides, the council’s answer states the redeveloped ground will become the home of both the Ospreys and Swansea RFC — “ensuring top flight rugby continues at a site that has been central to Welsh sport since 1876”.
