Benjamin John Hamer (; born 20 November 1987) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Career

Early career

Hamer was born in

Chard Chard or Swiss chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf blade; ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, and is a

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

fan. His family moved to Germany at the age of 3 and, consequently, he is a fluent German speaker. However, when he was 8, his family came back to England. He attended Holyrood Community School in Chard which is near to his birthplace. His footballing ability led to a spell playing for

at county level, where he was spotted by a Reading scout. He signed for Reading at the age of 15.

Reading

Loan to Crawley Town FC

Having risen through the youth academy at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, Hamer went on loan to

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

for the 2006–07 season, where he missed just one league game and was named as Player of the Season.

Loans to Brentford

On 4 July 2007, Hamer signed a new one-year contract to keep him at Reading until the end of the 2007–08 season. He joined

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in an initial one-month loan deal on 11 August 2007, which was subsequently extended to 14 October 2007. Brentford re-signed Hamer in an emergency loan deal on 1 January 2008, following an injury to their first choice 'keeper, Simon Brown. On 28 January 2008, his loan was extended to the end of the 2007–08 season. He signed a new one-year deal with Reading and returned to Brentford for a third loan spell on a season-long loan on 17 June, and was Andy Scott's first choice goalkeeper for the 2008–09 season, in which Brentford were champions of

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. As well as winning a League Two Champions medal, Hamer also won the Puma Golden Glove award for League 2 having recorded 20 clean sheets within the season. On 18 June 2009, Hamer signed a new two-year contract and was expected to jostle with

Adam Federici Adam Jay Federici (born 31 January 1985) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Federici began his senior career at Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2003, but was only there briefly and soon switched to Torres. Af ...

for the Number 1 jersey. On 31 August, Hamer was loaned back to Brentford for a fourth spell with the Bees.

Loan to Exeter City

On 18 January 2011, Hamer joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

on a three-month loan deal. Hamer made his

debut against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on 22 January 2011.

Charlton Athletic

On 1 August 2011, Hamer joined

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

on a three-year contract and was immediately handed the number one jersey. He made his debut on 23 August 2011 against his former club Reading in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

first round and helped Charlton to a 2–1 win. After some initial nervous performances he cemented his place in the team, making crucial saves throughout Charlton's title winning

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

. He clinched promotion to the

with

Chris Powell Christopher George Robin Powell (born 8 September 1969) is an English football coach and former player, who is currently head of coaching at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur's Academy and a coach for the England national team. As a left b ...

's side in April 2012, with a 1–0 win over

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

and continued to play regularly for the Addicks during the 2012–13 season. A series of injuries resulted in hamer playing fewer matches in the 2013–14 season.

Leicester City

After several weeks of strong speculation about Hamer's move to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, it was finally confirmed on 22 May 2014, by Hamer himself on social media. Hamer says he made the move to the newly promoted Foxes for the chance to play Premier League football. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat at home to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

in a

second round tie. Following an injury to

Kasper Schmeichel Kasper Peter Schmeichel (born 5 November 1986) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Nice and the Denmark national team. Schmeichel began his career with Manchester City, but had loan spells with Darlington, B ...

whilst on international duty, Hamer made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

debut on 13 September, putting in a very good performance and keeping a clean sheet as Leicester secured a 1–0 win at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, their first victory since returning to the Premier League. He played his second game for Leicester against Premier League champions,

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in a 1–0 home defeat on 13 December. After playing 7 games for Leicester, Hamer lost his place when on 6 January 2015, Leicester signed experienced goalkeeper

Mark Schwarzer Mark Schwarzer (; born 6 October 1972) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented Australia at international level from 1993 to 2013, and was selected for both the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups ...

from

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

to help cover for the injured

. In the 2016–17 season, Hamer started Leicester's sixth Champions League group game, giving him his Champions League debut. Leicester lost 5–0 to

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

Loan to Nottingham Forest

On 25 July 2015, Hamer joined

side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on a season-long loan deal. However, he returned to Leicester on 4 August after the loan was cut short due to Nottingham Forest's financial issues.

Loan to Bristol City

On 11 August 2015, Hamer joined Championship side

on season-long loan deal. However, he returned to Leicester City on 17 November 2015 after making only five appearances for the club.

Huddersfield Town

On 1 June 2018,

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

announced the signing of Hamer on a free transfer once his contract ended on 1 July. Huddersfield fans were not impressed when Hamer was named number 1 for the 2020–21 season but his performances have won over the fans.

Derby County (loan)

On 8 August 2019, Hamer joined

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

on loan for the 2019–20 season as back up for

Kelle Roos Kelle Willem Roos (born 31 May 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Aberdeen. Roos spent his youth with a wide variety of Dutch clubs, including: VV Toxandria, VV Trekvogels, Juliana '31, Quick 1888, PSV ...

. He made his debut and kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 win at

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

first round. On 30 November 2019, Hamer made his league debut and thereafter became first choice keeper.

Swansea City

On 15 January 2021, Hamer completed a permanent move to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, for an undisclosed fee. He signed an 18-month contract.

Watford

On 19 July 2022, Hamer joined

on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract.

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

: 2008–09 Charlton Athletic *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

: 2011–12 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2011–12 League One * Football League Two Golden Glove: 2008–09

References

External links

Ben Hamer profile
at Charlton Athletic F.C. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamer, Ben 1987 births Living people People from Chard, Somerset Footballers from Somerset English footballers Association football goalkeepers Reading F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Watford F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Premier League players English expatriates in Germany