Features
Chris Oldfield was in the best shape of his career but something inside told him it was time
By Sacha Pisani26 September 2026
Chris Oldfield believes he retired from football in perhaps the best physical condition of his career.
That was never the problem.
After more than 18 years of fighting to remain a first-choice goalkeeper, the former Liverpool academy prospect and three-time NPL Victoria Goalkeeper of the Year had reached a point no training program could fix.
He was mentally exhausted.
"It wasn't an easy decision to retire," Oldfield told HIGHPRESS.
"Physically I am probably in the best shape I've been in, but I was mentally tired and exhausted from the game.
"I have maintained first-choice goalkeeper for over 18 years, and to do that you have to be almost perfect in every session and every game with a second-choice goalkeeper breathing down your neck.
“Goalkeeping is different to outfielders. We have a pressure that nobody can compare to. And my mind finally said that's enough.”
For one of NPL VIC's most decorated goalkeepers, that moment brings an extraordinary journey to a close.
Oldfield surpassed 300 NPL Victoria appearances this season and leaves as a three-time Goalkeeper of the Year, having won the award with Hume City in 2014 and 2016 before claiming it again with Avondale in 2018.
His final season took him back to where his Australian story began.
Oldfield first arrived at Hume from England in 2012 as a 21-year-old looking for something different. He told his mum he would be home seven months later.
Fourteen years on, Melbourne is home.
"I fell in love with this country," he said. "Melbourne has given me a great life, great friends and great opportunities."
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But long before Hume City and the NPL, there was Liverpool.
A boyhood Reds supporter, Oldfield joined the Merseyside club at 12 and spent much of his development inside one of world football's most famous academies.
Before the 2009-10 Premier League season, he signed his first senior contract and found himself training around players he had grown up idolising - Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Fernando Torres among them.
"I grew up a Liverpool fan, so when I got the opportunity to sign and play for them it was the highlight of my career and, to be honest, it was a privilege," he said.
"The level and standard is on a different level. Their ability and technique are incredible. I can't even compare it to anything.
"There is a reason they are where they are. They are the elite."
The Liverpool chapter remains a source of enormous pride for Oldfield, but his experience within professional football also shaped another part of his life.
"Mental health has always been a battle for me and still is a battle," Oldfield said. "It never goes away. You just learn to contain it and deal with it.
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"When football is your life and it's all you do and it gets taken away or no clubs want you, what's next?
“There must be exit plans for young footballers offered by all full-time professional clubs.”
When Oldfield previously opened up about his experiences, messages arrived from footballers in Australia and overseas who recognised themselves in his words.
"If what I did helps one player or one life, then it was worth it," he said.
His own football life ultimately found another beginning thousands of kilometres from Liverpool.
Hume brought Oldfield to Melbourne in 2012 and the goalkeeper would go on to become one of the defining players of the modern Victorian state-league era, also representing Avondale, Altona Magic and Melbourne Knights before returning to Broadmeadows for one final season.
There were finals campaigns, deep Australia Cup runs and Grand Final heartbreaks.
There were also three Goalkeeper of the Year awards and the longevity to remain among the competition's best for more than a decade.
"The longevity of my career is something I am proud of and the resilience to maintain a level of perfection and performance for so long," Oldfield said.
“Could I have done more? I can always do more, but I did my best in that moment and every moment.”
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, retirement has done little to soften his belief in the competition that became such a significant part of his life.
With debate continuing around the relationship between Australia's state leagues and professional game, Oldfield believes the gap in playing quality is considerably smaller than many assume.
"If the NPL and A-League both were full-time, the current team lists stayed the same and they all played each other, the top eight clubs would be more NPL than A-League," he said.
"The top six clubs from this year in the NPL could easily compete in the A-League.
"I don't want to speak about money and lifestyle, however, as for ability there are players in the NPL who hands down should be playing in the A-League."
More than the games and individual honours, however, Oldfield will remember the people.
"The people and community from every club and my teammates," he said when asked what he loved most about the NPL.
“I have met some of the best people and circle of friends from this league. I have friends who will be with me for the rest of my life because of the NPL. My kids have friends because of the NPL.”
After 28 years in the game, Oldfield also leaves with a perspective shaped by how quickly a football career can disappear.
"The biggest thing I learnt off the pitch is I should never take what I did and the talent I have for granted," he said.
"Time catches every man and it comes quick. A 28-year career comes to its end in a click of the fingers.
“Enjoy every second you get to tie your boots and compete.”
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Football, though, has not completely lost him.
Hume have offered Oldfield their head goalkeeping role and he has launched NextGen, his own academy aimed at developing the next generation of goalkeepers.
After spending almost three decades trying to stop goals, his attention will now turn towards those following him.
"Now it has all settled, I feel happier with my decision to retire and I am excited to get started in my coaching career," he said.
“It's like a switch has been turned off within me and the feeling is good.”
"Now I get to share what I have learnt over the years with the next generation of goalkeepers."
