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New Stadium

There has been various rumours and opinion regarding the positioning of the a new 6/8 thousand stadium, redevelopment of St Helens seems to be the front runner

Ospreys have always prided themselves as the only true Region, to effectively base themselves at the "Whites"traditional ground would possibly effectively change this

My experience ot the Liberty , not many Bridgend supporters, fewer Neath due to the political problems (some have returned not all) Aberavon, Swansea Vally and Swansea supporters

If St Helens is the chosen venue , given there would be minimal use of the Liberty, does this mean the end of Regions and effectively

Cardiff, Llanelli ( by any other name ) Swansea and soon to be Newport

" Clubs" and the WRU should kick back at the redicolous start times to encourage support not accept smaller crowds andq grounds and fund that we have successful teams with players young kids idolise and wear the team colours, as was seen in the Galactico period

Be interested to hear Bridgend,Neath and Aberavon supporters as to their view of attending at St Helens

37 comments

37 Comments

Tommyboy664

Jul 24, 2023

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As stated before, Ospreys will play out of SH from 24/25 season. The council believe the ground requires £500k development to get it 'ready' for regional rugby. My source believes this is to pay for initial installation of temporary stands and moving the pitch so it's parallel to the Tanner Bank. A total redevelopment of SH won't happen straight away, the Ospreys want to have a few seasons making money with it being our 'own', building up the squad and the fan base.

My source, ex-employee of the Ospreys, says things seem very exciting and we have a lot to look forward to.

Swansea CC will be moving to the top of Sketty Lane behind the fire station.

Tommyboy664

Jul 24, 2023

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Replying to

But redeveloping SH will hopefully make it a 'state of the art' stadium...the .com is too big, with a poor atmosphere most of the time. SH will be an outstanding venue for us...imo.

PS I believe it's the uni laying the 4G pitches and Glamorgan CC aiding Swansea CC with the move.

Fiddler

Jul 24, 2023

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Replying to

There is no point to a state of the art system that they have continual fixture clashes with and no ownership of and cannot get a quarter filled.

Fiddler

Jul 24, 2023

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Replying to

The bigger issue to me Tom is to obtain an asset with 365 day a year revenue generation potential. Get your hands on the asset and add to it each year. We will still have rights to Swansea.com as we build up the asset. We have a New Year’s Day local derby which we cannot use Swansea.com. If we can play that with temporary stands let’s do it

Tommyboy664

Jul 14, 2023

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Ospreys will play home games from St Helen's(SH) as of the 24/25 season. Development will start on SH once the council are happy with the survival of the Ospreys, ie this season starting. The scumbag Steffan Thomas has put doubt in non-rugby people. Little rat that he is aka scarletnut,. Development is imminent.

paul.rogers83

Jul 15, 2023

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Replying to

And even more disappointing is it's the scarlets who are the the loaders of the bullets.

They realise if we don't go under their well and truely shafted

Allthewaythere

Jul 15, 2023

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Replying to

In what way?

Fiddler

Jul 16, 2023

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Replying to

I don’t think they are shafted as they can always reduce their cost base and extend the £3m council loan now due albeit at a higher interest rate. But they will find it more difficult if we have a permanent base in a far better lovation for 365 days a year income in an area with a lot of footfall.

You are right Scarletnut is not a lone wolf. He is a mouthpiece for others.

p.davies387

Jun 11, 2023

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replying to khbw82, good post, of course we don't know how far down the timeline this has gone as the rumours have been circulating for quite some time.

Tommyboy664

Jun 08, 2023

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So the news is starting to pick up steam that 24/25 season Ospreys will move to St Helens permanently with bigger EPCR matches being held at the Liberty. Wonderful news!

Apparently:

- joint venture between Swansea Uni, Swansea RFC and Ospreys

- new 4G pitch to be installed

- 7.5/8k stadia with new 1k stands being put behind each post

- car park facilities next to ground to be worked into plans

- redevelopment of current facilities to house better upgraded changing rooms, hospitality & fan experience zones

My source is reliable, but who knows 🤷‍♂️

khbw82

Jun 10, 2023

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Replying to

Would not expect a change of use required, given what we have heared of the redevelopment

showmaster

Jun 10, 2023

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Replying to

Even putting up a marquee for 28 days in a calendar year requires PP and a temporary grandstand of 500 capacity needs building regs and a Safety at Sports Grounds certificate. See Pp 21 on; http://www.juicesound.co.uk/tempstructuresguidance1.pdf

khbw82

Jun 10, 2023

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Replying to

But no ref to LDP, which you referred to

for the redevelopment

i would expect minimum 3 months Brief and Design

Planning Approval in excess of the statutory period of 8 weeks which they never meet ,

say another 3 months building regs approval if design carried on at risk during planning period say an extra month

tender if done at risk during planning Building regs period Say 4 weeks

construction 6 months ( shortage of materials on long lead , steel , cladding etc

H&S IN THE LAP OF THE GODS , But if full consultation during Building Regs period , say 1 month

As ‘“ advertised “ 24/5 season but only if they push the button NOW

Squidge

Jun 03, 2023

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I feel confident that with a more vibes up, partisan atmosphere from a smaller stadium, we'd have closed out a few of the tight games we lost at home last season. Look at the Saracens game to see how much bloody noise we can make in a more reasonably-sized stadium. Lions, Connacht, Benetton become five points instead of 2 and suddenly we're in Big Europe and fighting for the play-offs on the last day.

I'm based in England so have only got down to the Liberty once since Covid, but would probably travel down much more often to a smaller, more old-school, atmosphere-rich, tight-nit stadium.

ospreysfanforum

Jun 03, 2023

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Replying to

The players have said that a passionate crowd has helped them in games before so a smaller stadium should help.

Speaking to disabled supporters about stadiums, they feel that the Liberty has excellent facilities with the viewing on the concourse and accessible, disabled toilets close by.

I feel that as long as there is similar provision for that consideration, then all should be okay.

ogwrwayne

Jun 03, 2023

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khbw, my take on these proposals, is that I will see how things pan out for probably the first season, I travel about 10 miles north of Bridgend and have good seating arrangements thanks to the stewards. I'm blind in 1 eye and if I can see the majority of the game from a decent vantage point, I'm beyond halfways between 70 and 80 and as long as there is no really bad arrangements for parking or watching our games I'll probably carry on, the Ospreys need us now more than ever.

I would hate it if we are the Region that folded.

Fiddler

Jun 03, 2023

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Good luck if you think TV companies don’t hold the whip hand and won’t continue to do so. Let the guys who have the expertise and are putting up the money make the calls not the mythical hordes of supporters who want somebody else to fund galacticos for them to watch at knock down prices. Let’s debate when we have a concrete set of proposals announced rather than start debating based on rumours when we have no idea of the context in which those proposals are set

khbw82

Jun 03, 2023

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Replying to

Everything is negotiable, BT have sensible times for the Gallagher league

with ref to the Stadium , this is a discussion forum, please allow all to discuss their views as to possible centralisation of the Ospreys ( the one true Region )

as Wayne has done

Fiddler

Jun 03, 2023

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Replying to

Tv coverage of the GP is entirely different as they only cover a couple of games a weekend. The URC has blanket coverage of every game so there will always be a bigger spread of times.

On the stadium I want to see how the negatives are covered off before entering the debate . All I want to ensure though is survival and not end up dying on the cross of high principle.