A Port Vale forward is facing a Football Association investigation for appearing to share a Rothschild conspiracy theory, hours after he scored in his side's FA Cup defeat at Manchester City.

Tom Pope wrote early on Sunday morning: "We invade Iran then Cuba then North Korea then the Rothchilds [sic] are crowned champions of every bank on the planet - the end".

He later appeared to suggest the Rothschilds family's ownership of banks was "fact".

Pope, who had predicted in a tweet last summer that he would score 40 goals if he faced Manchester City defender John Stones, went on to score Port Vale's only goal in its 4-1 away loss to City.

That tweet created a storm on social media, leading other users to ask his predictions on other world events.

He tweeted the "Rothchilds" message, which has since been deleted, in response to a request to predict the end of a notional Third World War.

The Press Association news agency said it understands the FA "is looking into the matter" and could launch an investigation.

When warned by other Twitter users that his comments could be seen as racist, Pope responded: "I mentioned them owning the banks which is fact and now I’m facing all this".

He added in another: "How is it racist?? Seriously is someone out to destroy me or what?"

One user told him: "Because Rothschild conspiracies have been used throughout history as a way of smearing the Jewish community and have quite rightly been identified as anti-Semitic.

"This myth in particular is one of the most commonly used and has been debunked thousands of times."