Respected football administrator Cameron Schwab returned to the besieged Melbourne Football Club yesterday to face perhaps the most daunting task in the AFL.

But it took an 11th hour plea by chairman Jim Stynes to persuade him to again sign on as cheif executive. Schwab was undecided as late as last Friday.

''There's been a fair bit of consternation I must admit, personally and from a family perspective but the minute I made the choice I just felt totally comfortable with it,'' Schwab said yesterday.

He said he was swayed by a sense of responsibility and said the choice to become the club's third chief executive this year felt ''natural''.

The former Richmond, Melbourne and Fremantle chief executive will try to save a club burdened by a $3million debt and ridiculed for just three wins this season.

''If anyone thinks it's some sort of cynical means by which we generate a few bob well they mightn't be watching their footy club go around in how many years' time,'' he said. ''It's about building a club which can then sustain itself without necessarily having to go and convince the AFL of the need to support it.'' AAP