For Ian Gough, a lock forward who was dropped 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.
“Playing for the Ospreys was great fun,” he said. “They did it the hard way, stood their ground, and the supporters embraced that recognition and went on that journey with them to become a better side.
“Every Lions team has an Ospreys player. No other team can boast that.”
The Ospreys are also the most successful of the four professional teams in Wales since the country’s rugby format changed in 2003, a favorite of communities across Swansea, Neath and the Lower Swansea Valley. Yet the club faces the ax due to dire financial conditions and a long period without success in Welsh rugby.
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 they were in talks to sell Cardiff to Ospreys owner, Y11 Sport and Media, making the Ospreys the most obvious team.
Fans and dozens of former players were outraged, including household names such as Alun Wyn Jones and Shane Williams. Swansea has emerged as a staunch champion of the council team, this week going to the Competition and Markets Authority over the proposed Cardiff takeover, as well as filing 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 continuing development pathways for young people to become semi-professional and professional”.
“If so [the WRU] Serious about doing so, why are they looking to eliminate the most successful route and the most successful region in Wales? You’ll want to focus your efforts where you already have a thriving rugby scene.
“They’re completely oblivious to where the rugby is being played and where the success is coming from at the moment, so how can we have confidence in their strategy?” he added.
Y-11 Sports and Media did not respond to a request for comment. A WRU spokesman said: “In the face of the significant financial and performance challenges we all face, the board has worked diligently over the past two years to create a sustainable path forward for Welsh rugby.
“We appreciate that these are difficult and emotive issues for everyone involved, but our focus remains on the long-term health of the game as a whole in Wales and we continue to seek to work constructively with all stakeholders, including Swansea Council.”
The council, as well as Ospreys fans, are hoping to garner enough support from Welsh clubs to trigger an emergency WRU board meeting and vote on the sacking of its leadership.
The Ospreys drama is just one front in the crisis engulfing Welsh rugby. Bitter internal divisions are also playing for the national team: they have won just two of their last 25 games after Saturday’s loss to Scotland. Last week Wales recorded their smallest crowd in Cardiff for a Six Nations match – just 57,744 in a 54-12 defeat of France – 16,000 short of full capacity.
Grant Bernie, of the Ospreys Supporters’ Club, said: “They say tickets aren’t selling because of the performance, but it’s because of disappointment. There’s a big disconnect between the fans and the WRU.
“A lot of regional fans can’t face being there and giving the WRU money, even though it has to come back to us in the end,” he said.
Welsh rugby’s legal and internal dramas are likely to rumble on for months yet. Stewart, of Swansea Council, said he hoped the WRU would change direction; He pointed to the Irish system, which has been more successful in recent years than Welsh rugby despite operating on £20m less a year, as a potential model.
Gough, who played for the Ospreys for five years, said the loss of the Swansea team would be “devastating” for both the sport and Welsh culture. “The Ospreys are a fantastic place that produces a lot of great players. There has to be a club, it’s as simple as that,” he said.
