The 20-year-old pleaded guilty to the misconduct charge, although he claimed the homophobic comments were written by a younger member of his family.

Akpan told Town's official website, www.crawleytownfc.com: "This is a very harsh lesson for me but given the circumstances I had no option but to plead guilty.

"It is clear the person I thought would stand up for his actions did not, and it has come with a heavy price to myself. I am told the FA were very sympathetic over what happened but they must act within their rules.

"In relation to what was reported on my Twitter account, I can only once again apologise. I did not write those words and they are certainly not my views."

Carlton Cole, Danny Gabbidon and Ryan Babel have been fined by the FA in the past for posts made on Twitter.