‘Thank you’ banner to stay in Lawrence as memory of Team Algeria’s World Cup stay
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Banner measured 5 feet 4 inches tall by 20 feet wide.
- Explore Lawrence placed the banner on the old Allen Press wall on Thursday.
- Explore Lawrence plans to find a public display site and consult archives.
Thanks to a gracious group of Team Algeria soccer supporters, the city of Lawrence will forever have a reminder of its role in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The massive “Thank You Lawrence” banner was displayed by Algeria fans behind one of the Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium goals during Algeria’s 3-3 tie with Austria on Saturday. That momentous draw came in the final group-stage game of the prestigious tournament.
The banner was driven from KC to Team Algeria’s base-camp headquarters at the DoubleTree Hotel prior to the team’s departure for Vancouver, Canada. Algeria played a Round of 32 contest against Switzerland there on Thursday.
A representative of the organization Explore Lawrence picked up the roughly 5-by-20-foot banner from the hotel this week. On Thursday, with the help of Granada Theatre officials, it was placed high on an exterior wall of the old Allen Press building, just south of the Granada on the 1000 block of Massachusetts Street.
A group photo of 300 or so fans standing with the banner in the background was taken at 8:30 p.m. Central Time on Thursday, an hour and a half before Algeria’s match against Switzerland. A community watch party took place just south of the Granada, but Algeria bowed out of the tourney with a 2-0 loss.
The surprise delivery of the banner came in response to the national team’s gratitude after holding several practices at KU’s Rock Chalk Park during its June 8-30 stay.
Lawrence natives have held watch parties for all of Team Algeria’s games in downtown Lawrence, as well as various rallies for Algeria’s fans, with downtown stores placing Team Algeria jerseys in display windows.
Artist Stan Herd created a massive quarter-acre Algerian flag earthwork near the Lied Center on west campus. The land art was meant to welcome Team Algeria fans to town.
Of the presentation of the banner to the city of Lawrence, Kim Anspach, executive director of Explore Lawrence, told The Star: “We didn’t know it was going to happen. The fans brought it to Lawrence and we are the current stewards of it.
“It was all of them thanking Lawrence for its hospitality and what I love is it’s just kind of Lawrence being Lawrence, welcoming this team.”
Someday the banner may be as recognizable as the “Pay Heed All Who Enter Beware of the Phog” banner hanging in historic Allen Fieldhouse, considering the worldwide magnitude of the World Cup.
There’s no guarantee Lawrence will ever play host to a foreign national soccer team’s World Cup base camp again.
So where will this banner forever hang?
“We are going to find a public place for it to be displayed, and then we’ll see what happens,” Anspach said. “But we were so touched by that display in Kansas City Stadium, knowing that this experience has meant as much to the Algerian fans as it’s meant to us here in Lawrence.
“It (the banner) will be a lasting memory. After it’s done being publicly displayed, we’re going to talk to the Douglas County Historical Society and see if we can keep it in their archives so in the future when we want to look back on this as a historical event, we will have this as part of that.”
Anspach said it was the Algeria fans’ idea to give the banner to the city of Lawrence, where fans chant “Rock Chalk Algeria” and wear Algeria T-shirts and jerseys during games.
Anspach said Ruth DeWitt, Explore Lawrence’s director of community relations, picked up the banner at the hotel. On Thursday, the Granada’s Mike Logan and Emily Taylor “made this happen for us today.”
“We said, ‘We’ve got to have that up for the community, this game,’ and they made it happen,” Anspach said.
Anspach noted that welcoming Team Algeria has been a collaborative effort between Explore Lawrence, “the city, the county, the Chamber, the Chief of Police and Fire. Everyone has been involved in this big event.”
Anspach said Algerians bringing the banner to Lawrence from Arrowhead now is part of “the love story of the World Cup. We are now siblings. I do think there is something in our city spirit that recognizes the spirit of Algeria. And they feel the same way.”
