Swansea Ospreys fans dismayed as club faces axe amid crisis in Welsh rugby | Wales
For key forward Ian Gough, who was let go by the Wales national rugby union team, signing with Swansea’s Ospreys in 2007 was life-changing: he credits his time at the club with reviving his international career.
“It was a lot of fun playing for the Ospreys,” he said. “They did it the hard way, they kept their feet on the ground and the fans embraced that identity and went with them on the journey to becoming a good player. side.
“Every Lions team has had an Ospreys player. No other team can boast that.”
One of four professional teams in Wales since the structure of rugby in the country changed in 2003, the Ospreys are also the most successful team, loved by communities in Swansea, Neath and the lower Swansea valley. But with finances dire and a long period of lack of success in Welsh rugby, the club is facing the axe.
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) took over Cardiff RFC after it went into administration in April last year, and in October the union announced it would reduce the number of professional teams in Wales from four to three.
In January the union announced it was in talks to sell Cardiff to Ospreys owner Y11 Sport and Media, making the Ospreys the most obvious team to make redundancies.
Fans and dozens of former players, including famous names such as Alun Wyn Jones and Shane Williams, expressed their anger. Swansea council emerged as the team’s fiercest champions; this week went to the Competition and Markets Authority over the proposed Cardiff takeover and also filed a high court injunction to stop the deal.
The council’s leader, Rob Stewart, said any new structure for Welsh rugby must be “capable of sustaining development pathways for young people to become semi-professional and professional”.
“If [the WRU] If they are serious about doing this why are they trying to destroy the most successful road and the most successful area in Wales? You’d think you’d focus your efforts where you already have a thriving, vibrant rugby scene.
“They completely ignore the fact of where rugby is played and where success is currently coming from, so how can we trust their strategy?” he added.
Y-11 Sports and Media did not respond to a request for comment. A WRU spokesman said: “The board has worked in good faith over the last two years to create a sustainable path forward for Welsh rugby in light of the significant financial and performance challenges we all face.
“We recognize these are difficult and emotional issues for everyone involved, but our focus remains on the long-term health of the whole game in Wales and on continuing to work constructively with all stakeholders, including Swansea council.”
The council and Ospreys fans hope to garner enough support from Welsh clubs to call an emergency WRU board meeting and vote to remove the leadership.
The Ospreys drama is just one front line in the crisis engulfing Welsh rugby. Internal strife continues in the national team: after their defeat against Scotland on Saturday, they have won only two of their last 25 matches. Last week Wales recorded the smallest crowd ever for a Six Nations match in Cardiff – just 57,744 attended their 54-12 defeat against France – more than 16,000 fewer than full capacity.
Grant Berni, of the Ospreys Supporters Club, said: “They say tickets are being sold out of disappointment, not performance. There is a huge disconnect between the fans and the WRU.”
“A lot of fans in the area can’t afford to be there and give money to the WRU, even if it has to come back to us eventually,” he said.
Welsh rugby’s legal and internal dramas are likely to continue for months. Swansea council’s Stewart said he was hopeful the WRU would change course; He pointed out that the Irish system, which has been more successful in recent years despite operating on £20 million less a year than Welsh rugby, was a potential model.
Gough, who played for the Ospreys for five years, said losing the Swansea team would be “devastating” for both the sport and the Welsh culture. “The Ospreys are a great place that has produced so many great players. There should be a club there, it’s that simple,” he said.
