FANS of Bradford City admitted last night to a mixture of excitement and caution as news broke that the club had been sold to two German investors.

Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp will be unveiled at Valley Parade tomorrow and assume full control of the club.

The start of the new regime, which will see the end of the joint-reign of Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn, comes only days after the Bantams lost in the League One play-offs to Millwall.

Fans praised Mr Rhodes and Mr Lawn for their part in saving the club from near extinction but also recognised their own admission that they could not provide the investment needed to both win promotion to the Championship and sustain it.

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe), who has been a season ticket holder at Valley Parade for 20 years, said: "It is a complete surprise that it has actually happened, although there has been lots of talk about it.

"You have to look at where the club was in 2004. I think there were six or seven players signed on and they weren't even sure they would be able to start the season.

"It has been a long climb since then. Jim Brown and the others got it through those years, then Julian Rhodes and later Mark Lawn. Between them all, those people saved the football club.

"Who can blame them if they feel they are at the stage to pass it on. Julian and Mark have put their own financial security at risk for many, many years."

He added: "Julian and Mark are Bradford City supporters and want to see the club succeed, above anything else."

On the new owners, Cllr Ward said: "You have always got to be wary. There are good and bad examples of overseas investors investing in British football.

"But what you have to remember is Mark and Julian are Bradford City fans. They would not put the future of the club at risk.

"If they didn't believe it was the very best thing for the club, and its success in the future, they would not be doing it."

Mike Harrison, editor of the City Gent fanzine, said: "The instant reaction is 'yeah, great'.

"We have new investment, so it has got to be good, and I would imagine, given what didn't happen last summer with Paladini, that the directors and chairmen have looked into this very thoroughly and that they are passing the custodianship of the club to good football people.

"At this stage we don't know anything about them. We are just told they are German investors and we presume they have some money to invest.

"You don't want to be too cynical, but you don't want to get carried away either.

"It is impossible to get carried away before we know what the deal is and before we hear from these two chaps themselves. You presume they are coming in with a plan to take the club forward.

"I am interested and excited, but let's see the finer details.

"As far as I am aware, it is not like these guys have owned a football club before - so that forms part of my caution.

"It is a big leap and we don't know what experience they have got.

"Hopefully they don't want to change too much and that starts with Phil Parkinson, Steve Parkin, Nick Allamby and all the team below. We need that continuity."

Mr Harrison added: "Thank you to the present chairmen for what they have done and for taking the club as far as they have done."

Mark Neale, a Bradford fan of 51 seasons who is involved with the City Gent fanzine, said: "My first thoughts are that we cannot minimise the gratitude that City fans have to Mark Lawn and Julian Rhodes, having basically seen us through two administrations.

"They have run a tight ship and they never wanted the club to get into that sort of debt again.

"The first fear is that we don't want to get back into a situation like that ever again."

He added: "We have realised - and Mark Lawn has said it - that they would not be able to offer the kind of investment that takes us into the Championship. It has needed investment, but it's just a shame it has not come from more locally.

"But we have got to give them a chance. If they don't do things right then Bradfordians will not be shy of telling them."

The leader of Bradford Council, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, said: "I'm hopeful that this is good news. Mark Lawn and Julian Rhodes have done a fantastic job in steering the club to success in recent years. They've always had the best interests of the club at heart and therefore I trust that the new owners they've selected will also have the faith to invest.

"We all want to see the club go on to achieve further success."

Cllr Simon Cooke, leader of the Conservatives on Bradford Council, said he was talking to Mark Lawn about the possibility of a takeover when he saw him at the fire disaster memorial event in Centenary Square earlier this month.

Cllr Cooke, who is a West Ham United supporter, added: "What I hope is that the new owners continue to support the club, and invest in the club, and do it in the measured way that Mark Lawn and Julian Rhodes have done.

"It is not just that Mark and Julian rescued the club, they have managed it in a way that allowed it to grow.

"Hopefully it will carry on being well managed and being a credit to the city."