Earliest period union suits & holding skull caps like true gentlemen. Wonderfully worn melon ball illustrates the recent transition from rugby. Team captain wears silken boutonniere. Autographed solely by one of the earliest professional players in calligraphic black ink, "Orient Foot Ball Club Season of 1888-89...Compliments of Lee F. Miller Jan 25/90." 8 of 10 players are identified. Accompanying 1890 scrapbook page, "members of this organization claim to have introduced modern foot ball to this city (1883)...and (later) became professional." On par with the first ever pro debut, Pudge Heffelfinger & the AAA's. One of the first professional football clubs in history, and most certainly the first in Washington, D.C. 8" x 10", gilt-trimmed. EX+.