And they want fans of his former clubs – including Pompey and Southampton – to show their appreciation the much-loved World Cup winner by turning up to support the initiative.

The race meeting on Wednesday, May 21, will be held in honour of the former England midfielder, who died just over a year ago.

Goodwood hope top trainers Mick Channon and Richard Hannon, who were both big pals of Ballie, will have entries.

It will be a big charity fundraiser, with Alan's son Jimmy nominating the causes to benefit.

The Alan Ball day is being put together by Goodwood's Callum MacKay, who said interest was growing already.

"The meeting will have at least one race in memory of Alan Ball," he said. "Since we came up with this, Charlie McCann, of Stan James, and Mike Parry, of talkSPORT, who are both Evertonians have got behind it – because they are big fans of Ballie but also because they believe he will always be an Evertonian.

"Charlie is putting up £500, the proceeds from a tip he received from Alan (right) shortly before his death last year. Mike's putting up £500 and so, we believe, are Everton. All this will go to a charity of Jimmy Ball's choosing. Charlie's also giving Jimmy a £2,000 no-lose bet for charity.

"But we want to find out which football club's fans can lay most claim to Ballie being one of their own.

"We're offering a discount ticket price – two for £24 – to supporters of Pompey, Southampton and Everton.

"All fans have to do is call our hotline – 0800 018 8191 – say which team they support and we'll send out their discounted tickets.

"Goodwood will make a £2 donation for every ticket purchased in this way. We will guarantee a minimum donation by us of £750.

"We will keep a note of how many fans from each club phone to book a ticket and see who he was most popular with – a bit unfair on Everton maybe, as they have farther to come!
"So far, this guarantees £4,250 going to charity.

"We're sure Mick Channon and Richard Hannon, who were pals of Alan's, will put horses in the race and be very keen to win it."