COLCHESTER United superfan Trevor Bailey has always been willing to go the extra mile for his beloved U's.

And this weekend, he is set to clock up a notable milestone in his long-standing and unwavering dedication to his favourite team.

Trevor, 69, will be cheering on Colchester when they travel to play Harrogate Town in their latest League Two fixture, on Saturday.

And his trip to the EnviroVent Stadium will see him wrap up the complete set of visiting all current 72 EFL stadiums.

“This one will complete the set," says Trevor, who has been following the U's for more than 60 years.

“Up until when the pandemic started, I was going to all of the away matches.

“But when we were allowed back in again, I decided that this season, I’d have a go at trying to get to some of the grounds I haven’t been to, not just league ones but non-league as well.

“I’ve been to most of these grounds several times.

“Our first fixture this season was Carlisle and I’ve been there 11 times!

“I hadn’t actually thought about it as EFL grounds – I was just looking at the 92.

“I’d been to Barrow when we were in the Conference but I don’t count that - they have to be a league team.

“You’ve got a lot of teams who have come up from the National League whose grounds are still got pretty much a non-league feel about them.

“But then you’ve got other clubs who have invested in new grounds and are quite plush and there’s quite a variety."

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Trevor, who lives in Hadleigh, has travelled to the vast majority of Colchester's away games over the years on the supporters coach.

He is well-known to many of the dedicated fans and says it is all part of the away-day experience.

There are likely to be more Colchester fans than usual at the Harrogate game, this weekend with it being the chance to visit a new ground for many of them.

He said: “I’m well used to sitting on the coach for hours on end.

“It’s always a good day out on the supporters coach.

“They’re a great bunch of people and you have a lot of banter, so it’s great.

“I think there’ll be quite a few there on Saturday - we’ve got two coaches at the moment."

Trevor has seen Colchester play at the vast majority of the EFL grounds he has visited.

However, there are still one or two venues in the Football League that he has not seen the U's in action.

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“After Harrogate, the only grounds out of the 72 that I haven’t seen the U’s play will be Middlesbrough, Bolton, Wimbledon and Oxford," said Trevor, who has seen the U’s play on 14 current Premier League grounds.

“If we’re talking EFL grounds, the 7-1 win at Norwich stands out for me as my most memorable U's away game."

Trevor watches Colchester's home games from W3, at the JobServe Community Stadium.

He feels the potential exists for the U's to attract more spectators to the stadium, on a regular basis.

He said: “One thing that struck me when we went to Wimbledon a couple of weeks ago was that they hadn’t won for 18 games and yet, they had a crowd of over 7,000 and the buzz around the ground throughout the game and the support that they gave the team was incredible.

“Everyone was pulling together and I just think, we haven’t really tapped into the potential of that at Colchester at home games.

“I think the Game for Ukraine showed what possibly can be done with a little bit of initiative.

“We couldn’t afford to do it in every game but every now and again, get some bums on seats.

“With that 6,000 crowd it shows that the potential is there and Colchester is a big town and a growing town."

Colchester will be hoping to further boost their League Two survival hopes with a vital win at Harrogate, on Saturday.

The U's are eight points above the relegation zone, with seven games remaining.

He said: “I have to give Wayne Brown credit.

“In the position we’re in, he seems to be able to grind out results like the Tranmere and Port Vale ones and that’s all that matters, at this stage.

“But looking ahead, playing like that is not going to get you out of that division, with that sort of set-up."

After going the extra mile for his team, Trevor will be hoping that the U's do the same at Harrogate.