IT WAS a throwaway line that still gets tossed in Mark Lawn's direction months down the line.

He was caught on camera for a TV sound bite during last season's FA Cup exploits suggesting that City could not cope with promotion under the current ownership.

At least, that was how it was seen at a time when Gianni Paladini's interest in buying the club had just broken publicly.

The Italian's pursuit of the Bantams may have since drifted away as the club remain under the control of Lawn and Julian Rhodes. But still that phrase hangs over the co-chairman.

Lawn is keen to put the record straight and get his point across exactly how he meant it – and not how it was received.

"What I said was that I didn't think Julian and I could compete monetary-wise in the Championship," he said.

"But nobody asked what I meant by compete. I got misunderstood a little bit there.

"I think compete means top six; it means challenging. Maybe I should have used that word instead.

"But I never meant that we wouldn't be able to stay in the division.

"That sentence got changed somehow into 'we couldn't survive'. That was the implication but I never meant it in that sort of way.

"I want Bradford City to push on and one day I would love to see us get back into the Premier League. I'm a fan the same as everyone else.

"When I said about competing, I meant trying to be right up there with the clubs who are spending a lot more money. It just got misconstrued.

"It's just plain silly to think that for some reason we don't want to go up.

"It wouldn't affect me (financially). I get very little out of it now; I'd just get more of the same."

Lawn admits it is frustrating that some got the wrong impression from what he meant – but he is unapologetic with his critics.

He said: "It happens all the time. You have to learn to live with it.

"We're dealing with maybe 30,000 fans – some of them sit at home and call themselves fans and others come down to the ground.

"But they've all got a right to their opinion, although that doesn't make it right.

"What you've got to do in any sort of business is do it your way. If you get more decisions right than wrong then you'll do better.

"We believe that Julian, myself, Phil (Parkinson) and his staff are making more right decisions than wrong ones.

"But you can find the negative in anything if you try. You can go to Chelsea and complain about the rubbish coffee.

"There will always be people like that looking to have a go about something.

"It was one sentence. By competing, I meant being up there in the top six and trying to get promoted to the Premier League.

"It wasn't just about survival. If we were to go up, I don't think we'd have a problem doing the same as Rotherham in the Championship."

There may be no love lost between City and Steve Evans but Lawn is a good pal of Rotherham's wealthy owner Tony Stewart.

The Millers are currently bottom of the Championship with only one point from their first five games. But Lawn insists they have shown that clubs can make the jump without spending a fortune and expects them to pick up.

He said: "I like Tony, we get on great, and hopefully he can keep them up once again.

"He's very strict on his budget and what he wants. He won't pay above what he decides.

"He told me his budget when we were out in Portugal (at the Football League annual conference). We spoke in depth about it.

"We wouldn't have any problem putting that together if Bradford City were in that division."