SWINDON Town have sold defender Ellis Iandolo to League Two rivals Colchester United for an undisclosed fee.

Iandolo will re-join former head coach Ben Garner in Essex, under whom he played 52 of the 56 games during the remarkable 2021-22 campaign, on a two-year deal.

The 25-year-old has been in Wiltshire since 2015 and was just a couple of seasons short of earning a testimonial game - an extremely rare achievement in modern-day football.

Iandolo's Town contract was due to expire in 2024 after the player agreed a two-year extension following Swindon's failed play-off bid, where he missed the deciding penalty against Port Vale.

The versatile left-back originally signed for the Robins in July 2015 after impressing for the SEFA Scholars in a game against Town's Under-18s.

Since then, the 25-year-old has played 172 games and scored four goals - his last coming on Boxing Day 2022 in a 2-1 home defeat against Walsall - along with 13 assists.

Rumours surfaced during January's window that the man who was instrumental in Iandolo's development at Swindon, Scott Lindsey, was interested in bringing the left-sided player to new club Crawley Town, but a deal was never completed with the Sussex outfit.

Iandolo fractured his heel midway through February and missed the remainder of the season through injury.

In a statement from Town, Swindon said: "The football club would like to take this opportunity to thank Ellis for all his efforts during his time with us, and wish him all the very best for the future."

Speaking to his new club's media team after Colchester made their first signing of the summer window, Iandolo said: "I’m excited for the new challenge, and it feels like a new chapter in my life coming from a club that I was at for the whole part of my professional career.

“It is a little bit difficult [to leave], you're comfortable in that situation, but I think everyone comes to a point where they need new challenges and they want a change of scenery, and for me this was the perfect fit.

“I spoke to the gaffer on the phone and we had conversations about what our ambitions are this year.

"After seeing the facilities, everything is very exciting for me so I can’t wait to get going.”