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Bradford City owner Stefan Rupp has said he wants to see them win promotion from League Two this season.

The Bantams finished one point outside the play-off places last season.

This will be their sixth successive campaign in the fourth tier and the German is prepared to invest the money to help them return to League One.

"We are not there to end up somewhere mediocre. We are very ambitious and our main goal for this season is to get promoted," he told ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Leeds.

"Things were quite difficult to keep the boat afloat after Covid-19 and we said 'We have to be sustainable and we have to stay alive'.

"Now the predicament has changed because if you look at the competition and the kind of budgets we are talking about... we have to take our measurements to be in the mix. I have to provide the funds for this.

"I'm willing to invest and give the management team the means to select a squad that is competitive and can win us promotion.

"I want to see promotion, simple as that. The club is too big to just be one of the teams in League Two."

The West Yorkshire outfit have been relegated four times and promoted just once this century after going up to the Premier League for the first and only time, in 1999.

Rupp took over eight years ago and has been criticised by fans for not being more communicative.

He released a statement on the club website in March and says he understands the fans' unhappiness.

"I was of the impression that I leave the talking to other people. I always wanted to be the guy in the back, not so much in the limelight," he said.

"Over the years it became more visible that it's more important to talk to the people. It's the time to step a little bit up and give a bit more information than before. Times have changed.

"I fully understood the criticism, because why should the people feel differently to what I felt and I was really depressed and angry with how we were playing and giving away points.

"I wanted the people to know what I thought about everything and what I intended to do. I think it helped. I understood that people were angry and that's how it is.

"Ultimately I'm the owner and I'm responsible for criticism. This is something I don't want to neglect, I take it very seriously. I wanted people to know that I really care."

The Bantams have rented their Valley Parade home since 2002.

In a wide-ranging interview, in which he also reaffirmed that he is not looking to sell the club, Rupp confirmed that negotiations have been opened about purchasing the stadium.

"I can honestly say I want to buy the stadium. We have started initial talks with the owner and we will see how this progresses over the course of the next months," he said.

"Valley Parade is the spiritual home of the Bantams and it is part of the future strategy that we have for the club. There is a strong intention to buy it and the funds are there."