FEATURE: Former Chard paperboy talks about his rise to become Premier League footballer

Ben Hamer, 26, who studied at Manor Court Primary School and Holyrood Academy, moved to Germany with his family when he was three but returned to Chard five years later.

His father, Paul, used to take him to watch German side Bayern Munich and it was those matches which gave him a taste for professional football.

Ben, reflecting on his childhood memories of Chard, said: “I was rubbish at school – I was more of a tearaway then because I just looked forward to playing football, which is all I cared about.

“It is not what I would recommend to others now because I know now how important school is, but at the time I was just a bit blasé about it all.”

Ben turned out for Chard Town’s youth teams before scouts at a Bournemouth Academy session picked him up.

He was released from Bournemouth when he was 14 and said he felt like the world had come crashing down on him.

Undeterred, he continued playing and during a Yeovil District match when he was 15 a Reading Football Club scout spotted him and he joined their Under-18s Academy.

Alongside his football, he had a part-time paper round but admits he was not as committed to the £10.50 a week job as much as his sport.

He said: “There was this really dark road and it was horrible in the morning, so I used to chuck the papers in the bin.

“I would get a clip round the ear from the boss at the end of the round, though.”

Ben said he sacrificed evenings out drinking with pals for a quiet night in the house.

He added: “I always thought I was missing out on the drinking or the girls when I saw my mates going out – that is the hardest part, but it has paid off now.”

Once Ben got a foot in the door at Reading, he went out on loan to a number of clubs over a five-year period including Crawley Town, Brentford and Exeter City.

Ben said he sacrificed evenings out drinking with pals for a quiet night in the house.

He said: “Reading had four or five goalkeepers, so I just wanted to play football and I was lucky enough to have managers that took me on.

“It was disappointing not to break into the first team at Reading.”

At Brentford, he kept an amazing 20 clean sheets which resulted in him winning the Puma Golden Glove award for League Two and kept him in the Soccer AM’s Golden Glove top six alongside some of the world’s top goalkeepers – Edwin Van der Sar, Petr Cech and Pepe Reina.

Goalie Ben Hamer, aged about 13, as part of the the Chard Town youth team that won the Morangis Tournament in France.

Other highlights of the year with Brentford include appearing in several live televised League and FA Cup matches and winning the Cross Bar Challenge T-shirt on Soccer AM.

League One side Charlton Athletic picked Ben up in August 2011 for £250,000 on a three-year contract and he was immediately handed the number one jersey.

He said: “With six months to go at Charlton we asked about a new contract but they could not guarantee it because they were not sure if they would get relegated or not.

“Personally, I had a strong finish to the season but by the time the offer came it was too late – me and my agent had been speaking to Leicester and it was a deal that was too good to turn down.”

He signed for Leicester City on a free transfer in May this year on a four-year deal.

Ben in his goalkeeping kit for SV Zamdorf in Munich aged about eight.

The move brought his dream of playing in a Premier League match a reality when he made his debut in the 1-0 win over Stoke City earlier this month.

Speaking about the experience, he said: “I found out on the Friday night, and I had built myself up to it, so I wasn’t too nervous because this is all I’ve ever wanted to do. I do not get overawed by the crowds because I’ve played in a lot of games – the day went really well for me.”

Ben, who is single and now lives in Leicester, was on the bench for their 5-3 humiliation of Manchester United as the club’s number one goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel returned from injury.

Ben has already racked up about 250 career appearances and said he would like to see more clubs take notice of Somerset footballers, adding: “I never got spotted by Yeovil Town and that was only 15 miles away.”

His advice to young footballers hoping to make the Premier League grade was: “If you make your dreams big enough, why can’t you achieve them? Make sure you enjoy it, you always need that bit of luck, and work very hard.”