Donegal's Brian McEniff does not put a tooth in it when asked to account for his life-time service to his county.

"It's pure madness, blind loyalty borne of my grá for the game," says McEniff.

When the affable hotelier struts out with his well prepared, if injury-depleted Donegal side at Ballybofey on Sunday to take on the best Peter Ford's Sligo have to offer, it will be 42 years since McEniff's involvement with the Donegal set-up began. In the summer of 1961, to be precise, he played on the minor and senior Donegal teams.

His name and Donegal football, on and off the field, have been synonymous ever since. Not only did McEniff's "blind loyalty" extend to returning to manage the county's senior footballers when all invited candidates inside and outside the county rejected the offer, he also agreed to act as county board chairman for the year.

There have been internal difficulties within the county and 10 invitations in all, five from inside the county and five from outside had gone out to high-profile football managers including Martin Carney and Martin McHugh to take charge of the county team.

The response simply reflected a total lack of interest, a far cry from the heady days of 1992 and Donegal's All-Ireland year of triumph over Dublin.

The position became quite drastic until McEniff agreed to take charge for the season. "I'm only back for a short period, I have no intention of taking a three-year contract or anything like it.

"It's quite a big job and it's a sizeable county," adds McEniff.

"No one came forward to take the job and nothing could be done. We didn't get started until January which led to a bad league campaign. Had you told me last October I would not only be team manager but county chairman I would have said you were mad.

"The main reason I came back to manage the team for the first time since 1993 is because the players asked me to come back. I hadn't time to think about it, I just agreed and that was that.

"I have to admit that being county chairman and county team manager is an unreal work load. Sometimes it drives me mad," says McEniff.

Despite the work load McEniff finds it almost amusing when stating his current status. "I'm a full time unpaid GAA official. It's crazy, alI I can see on my desk are matters concerning my own business and GAA business. I have made up my mind that if we are defeated on Sunday it will mark my final involvement with the county team as manager."

One can only wonder how more difficult it will be for the Donegal County Board to find the services of a new manager if McEniff's best efforts with the players fail to reap rewards. A county in crisis, it would seem. McEniff said: "To be fair to the players we have been badly hit through injuries and this has to be a major factor in our run of defeats, unlike our situation in 1992 when we were almost completely injury free except for the knee damage Tony Boyle picked up in the Ulster final against Armagh.

"Take Sunday, for example, we will definitely be without full back Noel McGinley and our full forward Brendan Devanny. Injuries to Mark Crossan, Paul McGonagle and Eamon Reddan will be a big burden for us to carry."

McCrossan and Jim McGuinness are the only survivors of the All-Ireland winning team of 1992. "A win on Sunday," says McEniff, "could do wonders for everyone here in Donegal. I would love to see a win for the team and supporters who came out in good numbers despite our poor league and provincial championship campaigns, to lend support against Longford.

"We have a useful forward line, a hard working midfield and a strong defence. I suppose the Sligo team have never played in Ballybofey and that could be worth a few points to us, the fact that we know the pitch but you can never tell in championship football." says McEniff.

No one in football management has made so many comebacks as McEniff. He was player manager in 1972 and had further stints in 1974 and '76. He made another return in I981 and remained in the job until 1985 before returning again from '89 to '93.

McEniff's appetite will be as keen as ever in Ballybofey come Sunday. "Things are improving" says the forever optimistic McEniff, "and a win on Sunday will improve matters further."