The pubs, bars and cafes hoping for a major boost when the Ospreys move to their new home
‘It’s a difficult time to be in hospitality at the minute, there’s not a lot of money going around’
Hospitality businesses near St Helen’s Rugby and Cricket Ground are hopeful the Ospreys’ move to the seaside venue next year will provide a much-needed lift for the sector. The regional rugby side confirmed earlier this week that St Helen’s had pipped Bridgend’s Brewery Field in the two-horse race to be the club’s new home after the 2024-25 season.
There is much work to do to transform the historic but dated ground overlooking Swansea Bay but the prospect of thousands of match-day spectators and other events has been embraced by pubs and cafes in Brynmill. The Ospreys formed in 2003 from Neath and Swansea rugby clubs and moved to the brand new Liberty Stadium, Landore, in 2005, leaving Swansea RFC as an amateur club at St Helen’s. Swansea RFC, or the Whites as they’re known, had been a very successful club side – the first anywhere to claim the scalps of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
Robert Payne, general manager of The Bryn-Y-Mor pub, Brynmill, said customers have told him how busy the pub used to be during the St Helen’s glory days. “There has been a bit of a buzz for a few weeks,” said Mr Payne about the St Helen’s speculation. “We are a sports pub, and it’ll definitely bring some business our way.”
Home and away crowds at St Helen’s won’t lack food and drink options before and after matches. Fans of vegan bara brith, organic scrambled tofu and flat whites are catered for in Brynmill along with more traditional pubs and restaurants.
“I think it will be amazing,” said Mike Clay, head of coffee at Hoogah Cafe and Bar, of the Ospreys’ move. “I think the bars around here will make a lot of money. It’s a difficult time to be in hospitality at the minute, there’s not a lot of money going around. Obviously it’s going to be busier. It’ll change the way we structure shifts.”
Matt Barker-Smith, the owner of stand-up paddle board business The SUP Hut and co-owner of Ground Plant Based Coffee, was slightly more circumspect, wondering how long the Ospreys would stay at a ground it didn’t own. He added: “As a business opportunity, if money is to be pumped into the Brynmill area you would think we’d benefit from footfall. But you can imagine that whoever is doing up St Helen’s will be trying to keep footfall at St Helen’s.”
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