St Helen's Rugby Stadium, commonly known as St Helen's, is a sports venue in Swansea, Wales, owned and operated by the City and County of Swansea Council. Used for rugby union, and historically cricket. It was previously the joint home of Swansea's Cricket Club and semi-professional side Swansea RFC in the Super Rygbi Cymru competition. In October 2026, it will become the home of the Ospreys, who will return to the ground after 20 years, moving from the Swansea.com Stadium.

History Since the ground opened in 1873, the ground has hosted rugby union, cricket and football matches, and has been the home of the Swansea Rugby Football Club, and the Swansea Cricket Club.

Swansea Cricket Club established itself at the ground in 1875, followed by Swansea RFC in 1876, beginning a remarkable sporting history that has seen the venue host some of the biggest names, teams and moments in rugby and cricket. The ground St Helen's was the venue for the first ever home match of the Wales national team in 1882, and still holds has a record high attendance of 50,000 for a rugby union international.

At the ground, Swansea RFC defeated Australia 6–0 in 1908 and South Africa 3–0 in 1912, before producing perhaps its most celebrated result in 1935, when Swansea beat New Zealand 11–3 to become the first club side to defeat the All Blacks. St Helen’s continued to host Wales internationals until 1954 and later welcomed Wales back for a full international against Tonga in 1997.

In cricket, Glamorgan County Cricket Club regularly used St Helen's from 1921 to 2019. The ground has staged two One Day Internationals: England against New Zealand in 1973, and a 1983 World Cup match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. St. Helen's was the location of Sir Garfield Sobers's six sixes in a single over in first-class cricket, the maximum possible runs in a single over, and the first time it had been done. In July 2024, Glamorgan announced it would not be returning to use the ground having not played there since 2019.

The ground saw wins for Glamorgan over South Africa in 1951 and Australia in both 1964 and 1968.

Beyond rugby and cricket, St Helen’s has also hosted football internationals, including Wales v Ireland in 1894, as well as rugby league, athletics, boxing, cycling, hockey and tennis. After more than a century and a half, Swansea Cricket Club's association with the ground ended in 2025, while rugby continues to write the next chapter of its story. Few sporting venues can match St Helen’s for the combination of longevity, international history and iconic sporting moments that have taken place on its pitch.

St Helen's has also staged international matches in two other sports. In rugby league, Wales played thirteen matches at the ground between 1945 and 1978, two of which were part of the 1975 World Cup tournament. A football international between Wales and Ireland took place at St Helen's in 1894.

In June 1928 the ground was the venue of a mile race, for Swansea Grammar School's Sports Day, won by a teenage Dylan Thomas; he carried a newspaper photograph of his victory with him until his death.

In modern history, the ground remained Swansea RFC's home in professional rugby, before the formation of the Ospreys in 2003, which saw the now professional region share games with The Gnoll in Neath. Eventually, the Ospreys left St Helens in 2005, moving to then newly opened Liberty Stadium along side Swansea City.

In 2005, the venue could hold an audience of 10,500 seated before it was re-developed. The famous east stand, which had provided cloisters over part of Oystermouth Road, has since been demolished and replaced with a metallic stand unloved by locals. In late November 2007, the ground's perimeter wall in the South East corner, next to Mumbles Road and Gorse Lane, was knocked down and a new wall built further inside the ground, in similar style to the old wall. This was to accommodate a new car park with 39 spaces for the Patti Pavilion.

In the summer of 2024, after ongoing discussions between the Ospreys and the city council of Swansea, it was decided the Welsh rugby region would return to St Helen's for the 2025/26 rugby season, later delayed to 2026/27, and as a result, they would replace Swansea Cricket Club as the main tenants. Swansea RFC and Swansea University RFC will continue to play rugby in the stadium.

The final cricket match was played on 31 August 2025, where Swansea seconds played Pontardawe in a first XI fixture.

Rugby The first home international in the history of Welsh rugby was played at St Helen's on 16 December 1882, against England. The ground was the scene of New Zealand's first victory over Wales in 1924. On 10 April 1954, St. Helen's staged its last international until a Test match between Wales and Tonga was also played at the ground in 1997. The decision to abandon Swansea as an international rugby union venue in the 1950s was prompted by overstretch of what was then a 50,000-capacity ground; delays for players and spectators travelling west along the A48, especially at Port Talbot; and higher revenues from games at Cardiff Arms Park. Swansea Corporation discussed raising the capacity to 70,000 or even 82,000, but wartime bomb damage inflicted on the city forced a revision of building priorities. However, the ground has been used to host three Welsh women's internationals. The first women's international at Swansea was in April 1999 against England, and the most recent was in November 2009 when Wales defeated Sweden 56–7.

Swansea RFC defeated New Zealand 11–3 at St Helen's on 28 September 1935, becoming the first club side to beat the All Blacks. Swansea also defeated world champions Australia 21–6 in November 1992, when Australia played their first match of their Welsh Tour.

Between 1919 and 1952, St Helen's was also the home of Swansea Uplands RFC until the club sought its new home in Upper Killay.

During the 1975 Rugby League World Cup, defeated 18–6 in front of 11,112 fans (this match was broadcast throughout the United Kingdom by the BBC). The two sides again played at Swansea as part of the 1978 Kangaroo tour with the Kangaroos winning 8-3 before a crowd of 4,250.

In July 2024, it was announced that the Ospreys would leave the Swansea.com Stadium after 20 years and return to play in the newly redeveloped St Helen's. As part of the reconfiguration of the ground, it was also announced that the Swansea Cricket Club would leave the home they had occupied since 1875.

Rugby league internationals List of international rugby league matches played at St Helen's.St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground at Rugby League Project Game# Date Result Attendance Notes1 24 November 1945 def. 26–10 30,000 1945–46 European Rugby League Championship2 16 November 1946 def. 19–5 25,000 1946–47 European Rugby League Championship3 12 April 1947 def. 12–5 12,0004 18 October 1947 def. 28–20 18,283 1947–48 New Zealand tour5 6 December 1947 def. 18–7 10,000 1947–48 European Rugby League Championship6 20 March 1948 def. 20–12 6,462 1948–49 European Rugby League Championship7 20 November 1948 def. 12–5 9,224 1948–49 Kangaroo tour8 5 February 1949 def. 14–10 9,553 1948–49 European Rugby League Championship9 31 March 1951 Other Nationalities def. 27–21 5,000 1950–51 European Rugby League Championship10 16 February 1975 def. 21–8 23,000 1975 European Rugby League Championship11 19 October 1975 def. 18–6 11,112 1975 Rugby League World Cup12 2 November 1975 def. 25–24 2,645 1975 Rugby League World Cup13 15 October 1978 def. 8–3 4,250 1978 Kangaroo tour

Football List of Wales International football matches played at St Helen's. DateOpponentResultAttendanceNotes24 February 18944-17,000Played as part of the 1893-94 British Home Championship

Cricket

It was in this ground in 1968 that Garfield Sobers hit the first six sixes in one over in first-class cricket. Sobers was playing as captain of Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan.

As part of their commitment to the entire country of Wales, Glamorgan County Cricket Club play some of their home matches at St Helen's, as well as their regular home ground, SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, and Penrhyn Avenue in Rhos-on-Sea.

Wales Minor Counties Cricket Club, who have played minor counties cricket since 1988, use the ground as a home base. They are currently the only non-English team in the Minor Counties Championship.

International centuries A single ODI century has been scored at the venue.

No. Score Player Team Balls Opposing team Date Result 1 100 Dennis Amiss 121 Won

Redevelopment With the Ospreys and rugby union becoming the main tenants at the ground, it was announced the ground would receive a £7.6m redevelopment.

As part of the redevelopment, the original floodlights that were removed, were claimed to be home to the tallest freestanding floodlight in Europe, with the light in the north-eastern corner of the ground standing at 150 ft (45m).

The new development will include new stands, with a capacity of 8,000 and three will be under cover. The ground will also see an all purpose rugby field, with a specially designed 4G pitch.

In the future, the ground will look to include a training facility and gym for the region.

References

External links cricinfo: St Helen's Glamorgan Cricket Club: St Helen's Cricket Archive: St Helen's