1869 Lincoln Football Club - The Earliest Known Programme Issued by a Football Club?

This is a very rare programme that belongs in a sporting museum.  Lincoln Football Club organised this meeting on the 15th May 1869.  There is a football race inside the programme open only to players from Lincoln Football Club.

The programme does have some white tape inside it but this can be taken off by a specialist paper restorer and indeed we can help facilitate this.

The oldest known football programme to date was sold in 2016, a game between Yale and Eton in 1873, although the match was played in the States, and now resides in Eton College's museum after being bought from them by an Alumnus for £ 15,000.  This rare item could be the oldest known sporting programme issued by a Football Club in the world, Eton are rumoured to own a programme from the same year but clearly they are a college and not a football club and if their programme is dated after the 15th of May this will pre-date it.  To give further perspective the first ever FA Cup Final was held in 1872 so this programme predates it by 3 years!

Whoever owns this will have a very special item that is probably unique.