The lads once played a friendly in Muff. Tommy Coulter, Packie, Aidan and Vincent ate in a pub afterwards which was guarded by a fierce dog...Aidan thought the stew served to the lads was the dog's food! Another time while coming back from Killea, Aidan ran out of petrol in the Gap at 4.30 a.m. He had to be towed in by John & Packie in an ESB lorry. Another memorable moment was when Tommy Coulter called a miss in Ballyshannon during a league match (it was a new professional rule at the time) and this caused quite a stir. Jack Keeney also remembers the club playing in Tubbercurry. Michael Hunt recalls an inter-club competition, which consisted of a quiz, table tennis and snooker between Ballyshannon, Donegal, Letterkenny and Twin Towns.

Donegal won the first three county league titles in '87, '88 and '89. In fact they won the double in each of these years; the second trophy was the Top Four Cup (which is now a shield). A third trophy, the John Gildea Memorial Knockout Cup was later added to the roster. The participating teams early on were Twin Towns, Rossnowlagh, McGroarty's, Killea, Ballyshannon, Ardara and Convoy. Later Kilcar, CYMS, Port Centre, Killybegs, Ramelton, St. Johnston, Garda and North West joined, while Killea rejoined in 1999 after a long absence. Ardara left in the mid-nineties, CYMS took a year out in 1999 and Garda played one season in the mid-nineties. St. Johnston left for good in 1998, Killybegs in the mid-nineties, Ballyshannon in the early nineties and Twin Towns left in 1997 only to rejoin in 2000.

The early Donegal teams included Vincent Granaghan (the first Treasurer of the League), Mark McGroary, James Gallagher, Sean Boyle, Michael Neary, Damien Hanna, Danny Harvey, Alfie Simms and Tommy Coulter.

Later teams included Oliver Plunkett, Norman Johnston, Terry Mullin, Damien McGee, Liam McCauley, David Hanna, Francis Cassidy, Paul Thomas, Charlie Murphy, Shane Faulkner, Aidan McGee, Dermot Dunlevy, Brendan Travers, Jim McMullin, Jackie McMullin, Alan Ramsay, Patsy McNulty, Tom Plunkett, Kieran Temple, Martin Mulhern and Declan Ryle. Other players also filled in on occasion. Donegal sometimes entered two teams and the B team enjoyed one particular season in 1998 when the league had two divisions and we entered a 'veterans' team that did very well.

Donegal's only trophy of the nineties came in 1999 when the club won the Top Four Shield beating champions Northwest 6-1 in the final. The winning players were Charlie Murphy, Michael Neary, Tom Plunkett, Shane Faulkner, and Oliver Plunkett.

CYMS, Twin Towns and Northwest dominated the league in the nineties with Donegal finishing for the most part in the top four. The club's best finish came in 2000 when it finished runner-up to Northwest A who were winning their fourth title in succession. Despite losing just one match in 2001, the club finished a distant third to CYMS. A lack of strength in depth is the club's Achilles heel.

Donegal's first Derry campaign began with a 3-3 draw at home to North West A of Letterkenny in October 1999. Charlie Murphy's break of 64 against Greene's Bar was the highest break by any Donegal player that season and was a portent of what was to come. Michael Neary was as consistent as ever while Tom Plunkett finished third in the Burke Individual Trophy. The club finished third in its group and was only beaten on aggregate points in the quarterfinal by the eventual winners Oak Grove.

Playing at a higher level has undoubtedly sharpened the form of the county's leading players and this was proven when Tom Plunkett reached the county final at the end of that first Derry season, losing to seven-times champion Anthony Bonnar. Donegal finished fifth in its second season but unfortunately, the club had to withdraw from the Derry League in 2001 due to a lack of players willing to compete.