Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck admits Jose Mourinho had to leave earlier this season after his relationship with the board broke down.

In his 'Star on a Stool' Q&A with fans, Buck revealed: "I was at the press conference when José was introduced. I had probably met him three, four, five times before that in sessions when we were deciding who the next manager will be and on his own, in a press conference in a group like this and he blurts out 'I am not from a bottle I am a special one' and the rest is history.

"Why did he go? Well, the relationship between Jose and the board had broken down, from a business perspective, and we decided, and he was in accord with this, that we should separate ways. Having said that, we are not writing José Mourinho out of the history books, like we are with Mr Bates maybe!

"But seriously, we all have the highest regard for Jose."

It was put to Buck that football 'is a sport not a business', but the American replied: "That's a fair point, but I think, in a certain respect also, that you are living in the past. It is actually a big business and if we weren't conducting business, we wouldn't be able to buy the players and do the things we do so that we can all watch Chelsea Football Club. It's just a fact of life."