Chris Peregrine, South Wales Evening Post

26 September 2005

Just when you thought the Ospreys had moved on...their old name has come home to roost. The Celtic League rugby champions prepared for life at the new Landore stadium by dropping Neath-Swansea from their title.

But a few months after re-branding as the Ospreys, the region's original name has resurfaced.

Perplexed fans have been left scratching their heads by a sign which has gone up on the outside of the stadium - Neath-Swansea Ospreys.

But the Ospreys said this merely related to the official company name, with the team itself simply called the Ospreys.

The club opted for the new branding following the demise of the Celtic Warriors, which took in the Bridgend area.

Supporter Simon Griffiths said: "They tried to produce a new identity for the region when they eliminated Neath-Swansea from the title.

"Now they are creating a mixed message. What about people from the valleys and Bridgend who now come under the Ospreys banner?"

Ospreys joint managing director Mike Cuddy said that everything was consistent with the announcement of the name change back in May.

The Ospreys was then revealed as the new team name to better reflect their new regional status and incorporating the distinctive 'mask' theme.

But, he said, the club's legal company name of Neath-Swansea Ospreys was reiterated then and that was reflected in the stadium sign.

Zippy Reaction

The Ospreys had been building up momentum over the close season and many from Bridgend, Aberavon, Maesteg etc were probably considering making a trip to test out the New Stadium and the newly badged Ospreys. Fact is as with everything the Ospreys seem to do its just a lot of smokescreen good marketing when the fact is nothing has changed legally as this sign shows. Good luck to the Neath & Swansea side, oh and that momentum I mentioned has come crashing to a sudden halt.