Exclusive interview by Owen Morgan
Swansea’s St Helen’s is a stadium filled to its vast capacity with the ghosts of sporting occasions past.
Wales playing their first ever home international rugby union match way back in 1882.
Gary Sobers smashing the bowling of Malcolm Nash into the streets surrounding the famous old stadium.
Glamorgan’s cricketers beating the touring Australians – not once, but twice.
Wales rugby league victories over the likes of England and New Zealand.
Scott Gibbs and his Swansea RFC team-mates consigning the 1991 World Cup winning Wallabies to defeat.
A solitary fan braves the elements on the open terrace with the club house and the famous Cricketers pub building – now student accomodation – in the background. (Pic: Owen Morgan)
These are just a few of the many memorable events played out on the hallowed turf which can be found just decent spiral kick from the city’s picturesque sea front.
Few grounds can match the depth or diversity of sporting history boasted by the much loved field of dreams, which once attracted attendances of up to 50,000.
Even as recently as last summer, more than 6,000 flocked through the gates to watch Wales and Ospreys legend Alun Wyn Jones play for both Swansea RFC and The Barbarians as the All Whites rounded off their 150th anniversary celebrations.
The Ospreys warming to the task of moving in to St Helen’s. (Pic: Owen Morgan)
It was an indication that the venue can still draw a crowd if the occasion is attractive enough.
Sadly, St Helen’s itself is a pale shadow of its former self. Even the famous Cricketers pub, reputedly hit by one of Sobers’ record-breaking six sixes, is now student accommodation.
But a recent match offered a glimpse of the ghosts that may inhabit St Helen’s long-term sporting future.
An Ospreys development team hosted their Dragons contemporaries from Newport in a match which provided a taste of what will be in store for the grand old ground.
Earlier this year, the Ospreys announced they would be moving out of their current Swansea.com Stadium home to take up residence at St Helen’s next season.
Will there be a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow for the Ospreys at St Helen’s? (Pic: Owen Morgan)
The move will feature a multi-million pound redevelopment of the venue, which has played host to the city’s rugby and cricket teams, as well Glamorgan County Cricket Club and a host of visiting international sides.
New stands, a state of the art rugby pitch and refurbishment of the clubhouse are all on the agenda for next season.
As well as the Ospreys, it is planned for Swansea RFC and Swansea University to play their matches there. Community rugby matches are also planned to be hosted at the refurbished ground.
James Fender claims a line-out – one of the Ospreys young stars who will hope to make a name for himself a St Helen’s (Pic: Owen Morgan)
As the players warmed up in the drizzle under grey skies half-an-hour before kick-off, it was difficult to picture such a bright new future.
Some of the current facilities are dilapidated to say the least. But as the sun started to peer briefly through the clouds and a rainbow formed over the stadium, an air of optimism and excitement started to develop as eager fans filed into the modest existing stand.
Joining them was Ospreys chief executive Lance Bradley, the man who announced the ambitious development scheme following his arrival at the region in January of this year.
Welcome home. The Ospreys make themselves familiar with their St Helen’s home. (Pic: Owen Morgan)
Just before the former Gloucester Rugby chief took his seat in the stand, I asked whether he could picture the future St Helen’s in his mind’s eye as he looked around the existing facilities.
“I can,” replied Bradley as the players went through their pre-match drills on the pitch behind him. “And we’ve got some drawings done of what it will look like.
“We’ve got another meeting with the architects next week to try to finalise those plans and then submit them to the council for planning approval.
“So, we know what we would like to do. We’re in the final stages of costing all of that up, and obviously that’s a challenge. We’re very focused on the cost of the project. But no, I can certainly picture it. And it’s very exciting.”
Moving in – The Ospreys’ furniture looking at home in St Helen’s. (Pic: Owen Morgan)
Bradley’s excitement and enthusiasm for the project is obvious, as is his awareness of St Helen’s rich history and the need to be aware of its heritage in planning for its future.
The former managing director of Mitsubishi Motors UK said: “One of the things that we’re very conscious of is we’ve been talking about moving into a new stadium.
“But we’re not moving into a new stadium. We’re moving into a really old stadium. And we must be very respectful of the history.
“We consider it a real privilege to be coming to play here, where Wales played their first game and the famous cricketing memories, Gary Sobers and what have you.
“So, yeah, it’s exciting to be able to play a game here today. When we’re in here full time from next season, it’ll be a little bit different to this. There’ll be a bit more infrastructure around, there’ll be more stands.
“We’re hoping to be able to put a roof on the terrace, because it does sometimes rain here!”
Some opted for the nostalgia of the open terrace at St Helen’s despite the rain and lack of a roof. (Pic: Owen Morgan)
As if to reinforce Bradley’s point about the vagaries of the weather on Swansea’s coastline, the heavens opened five minutes before kick-off to deliver a typically sharp local shower.
But Bradley’s enthusiasm wasn’t dampened. “We’re hoping to be able to do that and have a fan zone and what have you.
“So today is a glimpse, but yeah, there’s plenty more exciting things to come.”
The development will mean the end of club cricket at the venue. However, there may be an opportunity for the sound of leather on willow to echo around the ground for another summer before the new 4G rugby pitch is installed and new stands built.
The huge St Helen’s terrace was packed for the Swansea v Barbarians match last summer. (Pic: Owen Morgan)
Looking ahead to next year, Bradley said: “We’re probably going to be playing our first game here after the autumn international break, because I don’t think that we will get in in time (for the start of the season).
“I think the cricket club are going to play their season here, and then we’ll start pitch and stand construction after that. There are some other things that we can do whilst the cricket are still here.
“So, it’s probably going to be around this time next year that we actually move here.
“The stands, we think, will go behind the Mumbles end goal. We’ll have another stand that will go behind the Swansea end goal, and then another new stand will become the main stand along the beach side of the pitch.
“The pitch will be moved so that it’s parallel to the terrace, so it will move a bit further across,” said Bradley, who is happy with the productive start he has made to his time in Swansea.
“I’m really enjoying it,” he said. “And the people have been brilliant, loads of friendly, positive people, and we’ve have been made to feel really welcome.
“There’s a great atmosphere in the club. The players are all in a good place. So yeah, I’m having a great time.”
The match wasn’t just an opportunity to look into the Ospreys future off the pitch.
The vast terrace, so open to the elements, will soon have the benefit of a roof. (Pic: Owen Morgan)
As well as some more experienced players returning from injury, both sides featured young prospects in their line-ups.
Also, Wales and Ospreys legend Justin Tipuric, who is hanging up his playing boots to take up the defence coach role next season, could be seen putting the players through their paces prior to kick off.
Bradley said: “There’s a couple of players making a return who needed some game time before we get back into the next block of games. So, this is really useful.
“Dragons have got a similar kind of squad to us, so it should be a reasonably evenly matched contest. We’ve said all along that the result doesn’t matter. And the players are like, “yeah, right”, so I know that they’re up for it.
“But the most important thing from our point of view is that we get to look at some of the emerging talent that’s on display this afternoon, and that some of the more experienced guys get some game time as they come back.”
The Ospreys warming to the task of moving in to St Helen’s. (Pic: Owen Morgan)
As things turned out, it was the Dragons who gained the upper hand on the pitch, with the visitors running out 38-17 winners.
But for a decent-sized crowd who braved a damp afternoon in the middle of the Autumn Nations Series, the occasion provided an opportunity to imagine what the future may hold for one of Wales’ most historic sporting venues.
Build it and they will come. A healthy crowd in the St Helen’s stand for the Ospreys v Dragons development match. (Pic: Owen Morgan)