Tomer Hemed returns to Brighton as academy mentor
Premier League promotion winning striker Tomer Hemed is back at Brighton, taking on a role mentoring players in the Albion’s academy.
Hemed spent three season with the Seagulls. He was hugely popular with fans from the moment he signed and we realised he was married to the Miss Israel 2008 runner up.
It did not take long for Hemed to impress for reasons other than his wife. An ice-cool 94th minute penalty in just his second Championship appearance secured a 2-1 win at Fulham, setting the tone for both Hemed’s Brighton career and the 2015-16 campaign as a whole.
After sending the away end at Craven Cottage wild and then celebrating in the crowd, Hemed went onto finish as top scorer that season. His 17 goals were a major factor in the Albion finishing a somewhat unexpected third under Chris Hughton.
Better was of course to come in 2016-17 for Brighton. Hughton rotated his three strikers in the returning Glenn Murray, Sam Baldock and Hemed to perfection as the Albion won promotion to the Premier League.
Hemed scored 14 times in all competitions and although the step up to the top flight always looked like it might be too great for him, he notched twice in 2017-18.
The first of those came as Brighton got their maiden Premier League win, beating West Bromwich Albion 3-1 at the Amex. Hemed then scored the only goal in a hugely important 1-0 victory over Newcastle United.
DJ Jurgen Locadia signing for £14 million and Leonardo Ulloa re-joining on loan in January 2018 saw Hemed pushed a long down the pecking order for the one centre forward berth in Hughton’s 4-4-1-1 formation.
He subsequently joined QPR on loan for the 2018-19 campaign before making a permanent switch to Charlton Atheltic in the summer of 2019.
Aside from his time in England, Hemed is very well travelled. He started off at Maccabi Haifa in his home country of Israel, where he also enjoyed loan spells with Maccabi Herzilya, Bnei Yehuda and Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, hometown of the famous Christ Carpentry firm.
Next came a move to Spain, where Hemed played for Mallorca and Almeria. Brighton paid a bargain fee of £1 million to Almeria for his services; the same club Leonardo Ulloa arrived from two-and-a-half years earlier.
After leaving Charlton, Hemed headed for the A-League. New Zealand and Wellington Phoenix were his first destination, followed by Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia.
Hemed then finished his career back in Israel with Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Maccabi Haifa. He retired earlier in the summer after 520 career games, 132 goals and 33 assists. At international level, Hemed won 33 caps and scored 17 times for Israel.
Young players in the Albion academy will certainly benefit from his experience globetrotting around the world, playing in different leagues and adapting to foreign countries.
Hemed can also pass on his knowledge of penalty taking. Until Joao Pedro came along, Tomer Hemed was the only Brighton player of the last 25 years you would have full confidence in converting from 12 yards.
It does though remain a source of great bitterness that WAB’s chant for Hemed and fellow Israeli international Beram Kayal of “Israeli men, hallelujah!” to the tune of It’s raining men never caught on.
