My brother Michael Whiteley, who has died of cancer aged 44, was an artist, poet, musician and teacher. He was also a qualified football referee and an unqualified comic genius.
Michael was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, and attended St John's school in Gravesend, Kent. He completed a two-year surface design course at the Jacob Kramer College (now Leeds College of Art) and then graduated from Goldsmiths College in London in the early 1990s with a first-class degree in textiles. He participated at poetry events and played guitar in numerous indie bands.
Michael had a passion for Leeds United and played in many positions over 15 years with the football team Point Hill Corinthians, a ragged collective of like-minded artists and anarchists in London. He became renowned for his vast collection of football ephemera, which earned him an appearance on Blue Peter.
He also made an important contribution to the photographer Julian Germain's book In Soccer Wonderland, and wrote the introduction to the catalogue for the accompanying exhibition at the Photographers' Gallery in London in 1992. This exhibition vividly illustrated the extent to which the dreams inspired by football have become deeply woven into the collective psyche.
Michael was a dedicated teacher, working in schools in south-east London and later Essex, engaging teenagers of all backgrounds in art and sport. Laughter was a common feature of his lessons, but he also commanded respect and his pupils achieved some impressive examination results. He helped enthusiastically with cricket and football matches.
He continued to exhibit his art work including, in recent years, at the annual Artists' Open Houses event in Whitstable, Kent, revealing an increasing depth and maturity as a landscape artist, inspired in particular by the coastline of Essex, where he lived, and of Sligo, the home county of his wife, Corinna.
Michael never succumbed to self-pity during his illness, nor lost his extraordinary appetite for fun. With him around, you could guarantee that you would be laughing a lot and that among the laughter there would be music and football and art and nature.
He died on the first anniversary of his marriage to Corinna, who survives him, along with his twin, Peter. He is also survived by me, our other siblings, Catherine, Andrew and Felicity, and our parents, Raymond and Joan.