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Highbury Stadium on the last day Arsenal played there before moving to the nearby Emirates, which can be seen between the stands. Right, Daniel ‘Knowledge’ Feinstein |
Tributes paid to the superfan who liked to be known as ‘Knowledge’
Gunners supporters remember a private man who could recall details of every match
A MYSTERY Arsenal supporter best known by his nickname “Knowledge” – in tribute to his astonishing encyclopaedic grasp of the club’s history – has died suddenly.
Daniel Feinstein, 45, travelled across the country and Europe following Arsenal’s first team, reserves and youth side.
He kept his own meticulous statistics of every match and player but was known to be fiercely private and would not let other fans see what was written in his notepads or give them his phone number. The notebooks were thought to contain minute details of how he spent his day and what he had seen.
Few fellow supporters were even aware of his real name as he preferred his terrace nickname, “Knowledge” or “Mr Knowledge”. He was an instantly recognisable figure, often weighed down with carrier bags filled with notepads and football programmes. A familiar face at every away trip, he even followed the second string and Arsenal’s youth teams to seemingly meaningless games.
Without a car, “Knowledge” relied on public transport and lifts from other fans. When he was not seen at Arsenal’s pre-season friendlies, supporters began to worry about his welfare, aware that he would not miss the annual match with lower-league Barnet without a good reason.
It is thought he died of kidney failure over the summer break. The first many fans knew of his death was an obituary in the match day magazine for the Arsenal-Portsmouth game two weeks ago. His relatives are understood to have contacted the club with the sad news.
“He was a virtual ever-present at reserve and academy fixtures for many years,” the programme said. “His vast knowledge of the club at junior levels in particular had proved a great help to the club’s publications over the years.”
Mr Feinstein, who lived in south London, helped several footballer writers with statistics for their books, especially before the growth of the internet made detailed facts and figures about Arsenal easy to obtain.
He would often be seen waiting around the press entrance to the old Highbury ground, stopping journalists as they left matches and asking for team sheets and statistics given to sports reporters covering Gunners’ matches.
He was described this week as “open and friendly” when talking about football but clammed up when asked about his own life. As news of his death circulated, supporters recalled seeing “Knowledge” in far-flung places and at some of football’s most remote outposts.
“He used to keep detailed notes of all the matches and God forbid if you ever tried to sneak a look at what he was writing,” said one online tribute. “He could quote details from any match he had attended – score, scorers, times of goals and attendance – off the top of his head.”
Another added: “He died in mystery, just the way he lived his life so a fitting ending. He was sometimes rude but he was a character who loved Arsenal and I will miss bumping into him and chatting to him.”
In the website version of The Gooner, one of the best-read Arsenal fanzines, editor Kevin Whitcher said: “He was something of a man of mystery, but those who watched Arsenal away games regularly, as well as reserve and youth matches, knew him, although it seems that no one really knew him that well away from Arsenal.
“I believe he got the name ‘Knowledge’ due to his encyclopaedic knowledge of the club and liked to be referred to by this name. He was definitely an Arsenal character.” |
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