A UNIQUE race has predicted where Bradford City will finish in League Two this season.

Ben Selfe has built a football-themed marble race to predict the final tables of all four English Football Leagues for the 2020-21 season, and it looks good for the Bantams, as they finished in the play-off spots in fifth place.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Ben Selfe has devised the football league predictor marble races Ben Selfe has devised the football league predictor marble races

Each of the 92 teams are represented by a different marble matching their team’s colours, and compete in one of four different races depending on which league they are in.

Different stages of the race represent different parts of a season including navigating referees, training ground and stadium.

Mr Selfe and his three-year-old son, who are Bristol City fans, began making marble race tracks to keep themselves entertained during lockdown, and challenged their friends online to guess which marble will win each race which they film and upload to YouTube, with prizes for those who guess correctly. (The League Two marble race takes the first four minutes of the below video)

After a very competitive start to the League Two race, Bradford City quickly established themselves as a front-runner, never dropping out of the top three and even leading at points.

As the teams made their way down the training ground and into the stadium it became a two horse race between the Bantams and Colchester United.

Colchester reached the final funnel stage just in front, but neither team were able to take advantage of their healthy lead as Newport County, Salford City and Barrow AFC finished the race well to snatch up the automatic promotion spots.

Bantams were the next to drop through the funnel, but the drama wasn’t over as Port Vale managed to overtake them inside the funnel drop, meaning Bradford had to settle for fifth place but at least maintained a spot in the play-offs.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Action from the League Two marble race Action from the League Two marble race

Marble racing has enjoyed a sharp rise in interest during lockdown, while many live sporting events were postponed, but Ben believes their races bring something different to this latest online craze.

He said: “We’ve developed a bit of a cult following on Facebook, I’ve got people I’ve met from all different walks of life who don’t even know each other coming together and bonding over their shared enjoyment of our random little marble races.

"I usually do little prizes for the winners, like a funny drawing or poem about them. I’ve always enjoyed being a bit silly and a bit creative, and this is a way for me and my son to do that and share it with others.”

Meanwhile, the Premier League marble race saw Leeds United finish fifth, as Aston Villa won the Premier League title.