Ben Hamer, a goalkeeper from Chard in Somerset, played nineteen games for City when on loan from Reading in 2011. He went on to play over a hundred times for Charlton Athletic before playing for clubs such as Leicester, Huddersfield, Derby and Swansea usually in the role of back-up ‘keeper.

Playing in school and youth football in South Somerset, Ben joined Reading’s academy at the age of fifteen and became a scholar/trainee in 2004. Turning professional in 2005 Ben then clocked up 120 league appearances when on loan to Crawley and Brentford (four separate spells) in the process winning promotion with the West London club in 2009. .

Ben joined Exeter City, then on the way to an 8th-placed finish in League One, on loan in January 2011 immediately making his debut at St James’ Park - where he had appeared in the preceding October for Brentford - in the win against Walsall. Within a few weeks he was playing against Brentford, when they visited for a Football League Trophy tie, as he went on to play a total of eighteen league games before Artur Krysiak returned for the final games of the season..       

Ben left Reading in July 2011, having only played five cup games, heading in the direction of Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee. Winning a League One championship medal in his first season, Ben was to make 114 league appearances in three seasons before agreeing terms with Leicester City in May 2014. Signed as cover for Kasper Schmeichel, and in competition with Mark Schwarzer, he played in eight Premier League games in 2014/15 but did not appear in Leicester’s championship season. Instead Ben was to spend his eventual four years at Leicester sometimes playing for the under-23s, having short loans at Nottingham Forest and Bristol City and sitting out many games on the bench during 2017/18 when he made four Premier League appearances. When he left the Foxes in 2018, Ben had made twenty first-team appearances during his time at the club.              

Ben remained in the Premier League when signing for Huddersfield Town in June 2018 but only played seven times in the top flight before the club’s relegation. He then spent the 2019/20 season in the Championship on loan at Derby, and after returning to Huddersfield’s team, left the club in January 2021. Next, Ben then had an eighteen-month stay at Swansea City before switching to Watford ahead of the 2022/23 season.