THE Proclaimers once declared that they would walk 500 miles to be with their object of desire.

And while a Colchester United-mad father and son from Scotland used more conventional methods to get to their chosen destination, the JobServe Community Stadium, their determination was just as sincere.

Craig Donald and his 13-year-old son Jayden made the 920-mile round trip from their home in Perth to be at the U's League Two clash with Northampton Town, at the weekend.

It was Jayden's first visit to watch Colchester and despite seeing them slide to a 1-0 defeat, his dad Craig says they cannot wait to come back again to watch their adopted team.

Craig said: "It's all come about really after I met my friend Ian Murphy when I joined the Army, in 1991.

"I was led to believe that Ian had lost his life in the Bosnian war, so we lost contact.

"But then with the power of Facebook we found each other and we've seen each other loads of times since.

"Colchester are Ian's team and he's from Colchester originally, so I adopted Colchester as my English football team.

"We came down to London for the weekend and we went to places like Madame Tussauds and the London Eye but the highlight of our holiday was the Colchester game - it was unbelievable.

"My son Jayden is a left-back for his football team and it was a highlight for him.

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"It was great to see the players in the flesh.

"The whole experience was great and the stadium itself was similar to McDiarmid Park.

"I'm looking forward to doing it all again.

"Col U is the team for me and Jay - Col U till I die!

"Hopefully the next time we're down there, if any Col U fans recognise us come and have a pint with us!

"I got in contact with the club via email and it was a nice surprise for Jayden that I got his photograph and write up about him published in the programme.

"You should have seen his face when he saw it - thank you to (U’s Head of Media) David Gregory for that.”

Craig and Jayden both support their home-town team St Johnstone, who play in the Scottish Premiership and won the cup double, last season.

But their favourite team 'down south' is their beloved U's.

"I do see similarities between the two clubs and it's the colours as well," said Craig.

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"I keep my eyes open for Colchester, wherever they are.

"I've always been a St Johnstone fan and I've seen us relegated but I've always kept the faith.

"So if anyone is feeling low about Colchester, just quote my words - keep the faith, because you never know what's round the corner.

"St Johnstone went on and won the cup double last season, which was unbelievable."

Craig is hoping to meet Colchester forward Frank Nouble, on their next visit to the Community Stadium.

He sent a message to the experienced U's player after the ex-West Ham youngster suffered vile racism on social media, in June.

Craig added: "When Frank Nouble was having deal with that horrible racism online a little while ago, I wrote him a wee message of support.

"I sent him a photograph of me and Jayden at the game and he said 'I wish I could have met you in person'.

"Hopefully, I'll get to meet him, next time."