PHIL Gilchrist said his early retirement is the best thing both for Oxford United and for his own future.

It enables the U's to move on, without wondering constantly whether he will get over his troublesome knee injury, and lets him concentrate on coaching courses to begin a new chapter in his life.

Gilly made 42 appearances, scoring once, in his second spell at Oxford after signing in June 2006 from Rother- ham.

It has been a fantastic career, in which he has played at the highest level - the Premiership.

Speaking at United's training ground at Milton yesterday, he said: "I'm disappointed with the way my playing career has finished, but somewhere along the line it has to.

"Either age catches up with you, or your body does with injuries.

"It has, and it's best for both parties, the club and myself, that I retire, let them get on with progressing the way I want them to progress, and I can start following a new career path.

"Two days after the Rushden game I couldn't walk up stairs, and you get to a point where you think that's not right.

"I knew something wasn't quite right in the knee. It took too long to get over the operation that was supposed to be a routine one.

"I was playing the games, but I still wasn't 110 per cent right, which is how I play the game of football. Maybe I always knew then that this season would be my last playing.

"It's caught up with me five or six months before my contract expires, which is disappointing. But if I was never going to get fit, it benefits both of us for me to retire now, and we can both move on.

"My goal when I came back here was to get us back in the Football League. We fell at the last hurdle.

"Do I think we should have fallen at the last hurdle? No I don't. I think we should have got to Wembley and we should have got promoted. We didn't.

"I can't do anything about that. Last season was last season, this season I haven't been able to play the games I wanted, and we haven't done as well as we would have liked to, but I'm not going to harp on about it.

"I look on it that I'm disappointed, not that I've failed, because it's been a great time coming back, the supporters have been great and the players have been really good.

"The club's magnificent, compared to when I was here the first time, the stability and the facilities, which are second to none in this division and probably a couple of divisions above, so that side of it's been great.

"It's no secret that I want to go into coaching, and I've got some meetings lined up.

"I need to get on with my badges and get as much coaching experience as I can, and then see where that takes me.

"I'll put as much effort into that as I have into my playing career, and if I can achieve similar to what I've achieved in my playing career, I'll be delighted."

Gilchrist, who started as a trainee at Nottingham Forest and then played for Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Oxford, Leicester and West Brom before dropping down first to Rotherham and then Oxford again, made 551 senior league and cup appear- ances.

U's boss Darren Patterson said he could see in recent weeks that the defender's body just wasn't doing what his brain was asking it to do.

"The biggest thing with Gilly, and I can relate it to myself, is that you can see where his mind is, and his body isn't. The body wouldn't take him there and that was the realisation for him," he said.

"Also, he's got to think of his future. If you're going to carry on at that rate, you're going to really hurt your body, and he's got family and kids.

"So the decision he's made is the right one."