ST HELEN’S: Swansea Building Society backs both city clubs as Ospreys and All Whites move in

Swansea Building Society will have its name on the back of both the Ospreys‘ and Swansea RFC‘s shirts this season, after renewing its sponsorship of the two clubs for 2026/27.

Both will be wearing it at the same ground. The Ospreys arrive at St Helen’s from the Brewery Field in Bridgend, and Swansea RFC come back from a season at Dunvant RFC’s Broadacre.

That gives St Helen’s two rugby tenants for the first time.

For the All Whites it is also a milestone. The club first played at the ground in 1876, which makes this their 150th season there.

They will be playing it on a building site. The £7.6m redevelopment will give St Helen’s a capacity approaching 7,000, a new stand on the seafront side, the existing stand relocated to the Mumbles end, and a fan zone at the Guildhall end.

The council has said the ground is being built to the standards required for URC and European rugby, in anticipation of the Welsh Rugby Union cutting Wales from four professional teams to three.

That cut is the shadow over the season. The union confirmed in July that its three-team model starts in 2028/29, with guaranteed licences for Cardiff and the Dragons and a single licence left for west Wales, to be contested by the Ospreys and the Scarlets.

The union said the process to award the licences begins in December and concludes by the end of the 2026/27 season at the latest, with all four clubs asked in the first quarter of next year whether they want to take part.

Alun Williams, Chief Executive of Swansea Building Society, said rugby was an important part of Swansea’s identity and that the Society had wanted to make a clear commitment to both clubs and to the city.

“There is no doubt that Welsh rugby is going through a period of change,” he said.

Richard Lancaster, the Ospreys’ managing director for business, said the Society’s support was valued as the club established St Helen’s as its new home.

Paul Rogers, commercial manager at Swansea RFC, said returning to St Helen’s for the 150th anniversary year made the season significant for everyone connected with the club.

Underneath the professional game, the rebuild is meant to serve everyone else. The council will take the freehold of the clubhouse and changing rooms on Bryn Road, and says its funding secures community use for around 90 per cent of available hours outside major fixtures, for schools, clubs and other sports.

One tenant will not be back. Cricket had been played at St Helen’s for a century and a half, and Swansea Cricket Club left after the 2025 season for an upgraded site at Sketty Lane.

The rebuilt clubhouse is due to offer modern changing facilities, accessible amenities and flexible indoor spaces, with the council saying the venue will also support football, athletics and disability sport as a bookable community space.