Brian McEniff was born on 1 December 1942 and is a former Gaelic football player, manager and administrator.
38 Facts About Brian McEniff
1.
2.
Brian McEniff won seven Donegal Senior Football Championship titles with that combination of clubs and another one with Realt na Mara, when St Joseph's divided.
3.
Brian McEniff won two Ulster Senior Football Championship titles with the Donegal county team as player-manager in 1972 and 1974 and was awarded an All Star after the first of these.
4.
Brian McEniff returned to manage the county to a third Ulster SFC title in 1983, then left again.
5.
Brian McEniff returned once more in 1989, leading the county to its fourth and fifth Ulster SFC titles in 1990 and 1992, as well as the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in the last of these.
6.
Brian McEniff managed his county during four successive decades, earning a reputation as the dean of Donegal football.
7.
Brian McEniff managed the Ulster provincial football team for many decades.
8.
Brian McEniff coached Ireland to victory over Australia in the 2001 International Rules Series, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Football Park in Adelaide in October that year.
9.
Brian McEniff spent much of his childhood in Carrickmore, where his mother's family had a farmhouse.
10.
Brian McEniff left Ireland for Canada in 1962 to gain hotel work experience.
11.
Brian McEniff supported Tyrone against Louth in the 1957 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final, his first visit to Croke Park.
12.
Brian McEniff won numerous titles with the famous St Joseph's combination of Bundoran and Ballyshannon, both in Donegal and Ulster.
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Brian McEniff won Donegal Senior Football Championship titles with St Joseph's in 1965,1968,1970,1973,1974,1975 and 1976.
14.
Brian McEniff won his last Donegal SFC title with Realt na Mara in 1979, which included the late Brendan McHugh and Seamus Reilly, both county representatives for Sligo, Mayo and Donegal.
15.
Brian McEniff captained St Joseph's to the 1968 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship final.
16.
Brian McEniff continued working to promote his club long into retirement.
17.
Brian McEniff was player-manager of the first Donegal team to win an Ulster Senior Football Championship title in 1972.
18.
Brian McEniff was wing-back in the final as Donegal defeated Down.
19.
Brian McEniff would have united the clubs in Donegal, who at that point would have been killing one another, even at county level players wouldn't pass.
20.
Brian McEniff later returned as Donegal manager, for the first time as a non-playing member of the team.
21.
Brian McEniff led Donegal to a third Ulster SFC title in 1983.
22.
Brian McEniff began to manage the Ulster provincial football team, with which he won 12 Railway Cup finals.
23.
Brian McEniff helped Tyrone club Carrickmore, where his mother was from, when they were struggling against relegation in 1983 and 1986.
24.
Brian McEniff returned as Donegal manager in 1989, succeeding Tom Conaghan.
25.
Brian McEniff led the county to another Ulster SFC title in 1990, restoring such as Declan Bonner, Manus Boyle, Matt Gallagher, Barry McGowan and Sylvester Maguire, players that Conaghan had thrown by the wayside.
26.
Brian McEniff chose not to inform McMullin or anyone else on the team until after the match.
27.
Brian McEniff managed Ireland for the International Rules Series of 2000 and 2001.
28.
Brian McEniff soon returned for a last outing as Donegal manager.
29.
Brian McEniff was chairman of the Donegal County Board in late 2002, but could not find a manager, so he did it himself.
30.
Brian McEniff left Donegal inter-county management in 2005 after a fifth and final tenure in charge ended with a drab qualifier defeat to Cavan at Breffni Park.
31.
Brian McEniff was mentor to Nell McCafferty on the Celebrity Bainisteoir television programme in 2007.
32.
In 2010 and 2011, Brian McEniff assisted Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick in an advisory capacity, during which time Louth reached the 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship final.
33.
Brian McEniff later denied this, though Louth County Board chairman Padraic O'Connor said Brian McEniff would be a "great capture" and would not be paid.
34.
Brian McEniff managed his local club in the 2013 Donegal Senior Football Championship, taking over from Joe Keeney after his resignation and filling the position in his 71st year.
35.
Brian McEniff guided both Jim McGuinness and Declan Bonner, his most noteworthy successors as Donegal manager, into management.
36.
In 1969, Brian McEniff bought the Hamilton Hotel, which was next door to the Holyrood Hotel.
37.
Brian McEniff was appointed to the board of Ireland West Airport in 2002.
38.
Brian McEniff is married to Catherine "Cautie" O'Leary, a native of Cork whom he met in Canada and married her there.