WILLS LOVED ME LONG BEFORE KATE: SOTHERTON

echo ROYAL EXCLUSIVE: WILLS 'PROPOSED' TO KELLY BUT SHE SAID NO

Prince William was in love with former Olympic Heptathlon bronze medalist Kelly Sotherton, the lufbra echo can reveal. In an exclusive interview, Kelly (who denies that Jessica Ennis's success has got to her) told the echo that Wills "was ready to run away to Libya" with here where they were set to "live happily ever after just outside Tripoli". Southerton also claimed that that was why Britain was currently at war with Libya: "because it reminded little Willy too much of me".

The extraordinary revelation comes just hours before the Nation's favourite Prince ties the knot with new love Kate Middleton. "I always said it would never last" said Sotherton, seemingly unaware of the fact that the couple were getting married tomorrow "when he finished it with her, he called me straight away. We met up and went for a walk round some castle or something near the Windsor track and that posh school. He said that I was the girl of his dreams and that all he wanted was to spend the rest of his life with me."

Sotherton has also revealed that she ditched the prince - despite initially agreeing to his request to move abroad - at Gatwick airport. "We were due to get an EasyJet flight to Ibiza and then a boat to Libya from there" revealed the ex-Commonwealth Champion "I told him straight in McDonalds (South Terminal). I said look, I don't want this and ended it all right then and there. He cried like Jess Ennis after she got dropped for the Olympics". 

Sotherton claimed that Wills "flew to Athens especially" to watch her compete at the 2004 Games and denies rumours that he was now an Ennis fan. "F****** nonsense! Why'd you have to bring that cow into it? She never entered his thoughts all the time we were going out. I was his only ever love." Adding that Wills enjoyed doing mock medal ceremonies to God Save Grannie in the bedroom, Sotherton said that she was happy with her decision to ditch the royal lifestyle.

EMERY FUMES AT EIGHTLANE PREDICTIONS

Stephen Emery has reacted angrily to predictions on the popular running forum, eightlane that he will not win a medal at this weekend's BUCS Championships. The website invited its posters to predict how the Championships might turn out and only one post mentioned Emery as a contender for the 5,000m - predicting a 5th placed finish in 14:56.

"F****** outrageous" thundered Emery from his weekly press conference "who the f*** do they think they are? How can they f****** count me out? It's f****** mental if you ask me. I am the bronze medalist! FIFTH? You've got to be kidding me." Emery famously ran a "sensible" race last year to secure his place on the podium - but faced criticism from Steve Cram for "never even trying to win it".

The Coventry Godiva star also denied that his success has gone to his head. Emery has been criticised for "lauding his success" over close pals. "I only display the medal at weekends" said the engineer "and the picture on the wall was a gift". In response to accusations that he is often "over-hydrated", Emery threw his water bottle (room temperature) across the room. "Nonsense" blasted the 3:48 (Stretford Timing) 1500m man "they'll try anything to get at me, before my big day. Just you wait until I'm the champion - then you'll all see what correct hydration looks like".

DOCTORS FEAR FOR BOWSER

Some of the country's leading psychiatrists have voiced concerns as to the well being of 5,000m star, Matt Bowser. The Lincoln man has been the subject of national ridicule since he announced his intention to participate in the London Olympics and a recent video on the popular running forum for simpletons, eightlane seems to show Bowser having a mental breakdown.

"It's very worrying indeed" said a Dr Shrink from the University of North Dunstable's School of Psychiatry "you can clearly see that the lad is unwell. I would urge people not to approach him and contact the police if he is seen." Bowser's whereabouts is currently unknown and friends of the former European Cross Country Champion have called for him to come home. "This is going too far, Matt" said a source close to the star "let's give up these games and get things sorted."

The Police have stressed that Bowser is "not wanted in connection with any crime (for a change)" and that they were "purely concerned for his mental health". This comes less than a year after Bowser was the subject of a national manhunt in connection with a missing UKA Garmin.

NEWS ROUND UP

'NO CONCERN' OVER OLYMPIC FUNDING: COE

ENNIS 'NOT FAZED' BY MEDIA HYPE

Jessica Ennis has denied that she has been distracted by the special attention she has received since winning the World Championships in 2009. The Heptathlete has been the subject of fierce media scrutiny ever since the BBC revealed plans for an annual "Jess Day" where they show 24 hours of non-stop Ennis related programming on BBC 1 and BBC Radio Five Live. Although the idea has been quietly dropped, it is understood that BBC producers have now rented homes up and down Ennis' Sheffield street in order to be the first to break any "Jess News". A Beeb insider told the echo that the £10m project was already paying off. "Last week and eagle eyed report spotted that Jess has brought 1% milk instead of the usual semi-skimmed" enthused the senior executive "it prompted a series of stories on the benefits of such a move. Unfortunately we had to retract them all when we spotted a return to the usual green tops the following day". Earlier this year, Ennis called for "a thorough review" of Facebook usage after Kelly Sotherton was accused of hacking into her account.

SMITH CALLS FOR NEWHAM FOCUS

Newham's manager Bob Smith has called for his athletes to remain "focussed on the task at hand" ahead of the new season. The club are in serious financial difficulty and are badly in need of the funding that a third successive Premiership title would bring. "I have sat the lads down" said Smith "and told them to forget everything but running". It is understood that the club will be unable to maintain the £150m annual wage bill "much past June" and players are being encouraged by their agents to look for other clubs. 

FARAH FUMING AT ROYAL SNUB

Mo Farah has claimed to of "lost sleep" over his "derisory" seating position at Friday's Royal Wedding. The GB International is well known to be a personal friend of Prince William and has been snapped on regular shooting jaunts with the Royals around the Balmoral estate. Farah is upset after being assigned a seat towards the back of Westminster Abbey and is "next to a bunch of no hopers" according to the 5k star. "I am seventeenth in line to be best man" thundered Farah "how can I be treated so badly? I'm sitting next to Nick Clegg - it's going to be awful".

NO REGRETS OVER LEAVING BLACKBURN: MATTHEWS

Pete Matthews "has never felt better" since being offloaded by his boyhood club at the beginning of this year. The disgraced AAAs fraudster was allowed to leave Blackburn Harriers on a free transfer in the January window and - despite reports of the northerner struggling with the pace of London life - claims to have settled down nicely at Blackheath and Bromley.

"I guess that they appreciate me more" said Matthews from his tanning base in Portugal "I outgrew Blackburn and decided that it was time to move on". Quite a different story is told by the Harriers, who state that they had no choice but to get rid of Matthews as he had quite literally outgrown the club vests. "His behaviour was becoming more and more erratic" said a Blackburn insider "we had a meeting and weighed up what he actually brought to the club. We agreed that he added no value and so moved him on."

The most famous athlete never to have broken 4 minutes for 1500m has not been without his difficulties since joining Blackheath. Mike Skinner branded the red head a "national joke" last month and the club fined him heavily after the echo reported that he had fictionalised his 3km time in order to gain entry to the BUCS Indoor Championships. In spite of these setbacks, Matthews told the echo that he was "really excited" about the forthcoming track season. "I might even race" smiled the former GB International (Mountain Running) "in all seriousness though, I am ready to smash it up".

Matthews also played down rumours of an embarrassing incident in Portugal last week. It is understood that he wasted over 90 minutes talking to a Portuguese stranger who he believed to be an international athlete. When it was revealed that the individual was the head groundsman at the track and had only recorded an "average" 10k time, Matthews was forced into a humiliating U-turn and Facebook deletion.

EMERY FURY OVER 'CHEATING' SLUR

Stephen Emery has expressed his "absolute horror" at being branded a cheat by some of his contemporaries. The £20m Coventry Godiva man was accused of "not behaving in the spirit of the occasion" at a water park visit during his warm weather training trip to Portugal this afternoon. A high-stakes race was organised on a five lane water slide with many of Emery's most bitter rivals taking part. The 3:48 (Stretford Timing) 1500m man was disqualified in his heat after false-starting but immediately appealed the decision on the grounds that "a whistle from the crowd" had distracted him. A small scuffle ensued resulting in both Emery and Altrincham's Andy Norman being dragged away by race officials. 

The upshot of the 90 minute steward's inquiry was Emery's reinstatement in a re-run of his heat, with the determined 23 year-old easing into the semi-finals. However, the Godiva star had to put up with boos from the 23,000 spectators and cries of "cheat" as he stretched between rounds. Visibly shaken by the atmosphere, Emery only scraped into the final where he was once again disqualified for what he called a "harsh" false-start. The race was eventually won by the largely unfancied Shane Kerr.

Speaking afterwards, Emery made no effort to hide his displeasure at the circumstances of his defeat. "You work your whole winter for an event like this" he blasted "and then an incident like that ruins the whole day.  I am not a cheat. I would never cheat. It is a personal insult to be called one". On his disqualification in the final, Emery harrumphed that the starter "didn't know what he was doing" and held competitors for far too long. "Total amateurs" thundered the BUCS Bronze medalist "I will never compete here again".

COULD 'ALIEN INVASION' THREATEN 2012 TICKET PRICES?

The possibility of a "killer alien invasion" may result in a rise in the Olympic ticket prices. According to a report seen by the lufbra echo, 2012 security chiefs have called for an increase in funding in a bid to combat the potential of a deadly attack from "Martian beings". It is understood that Lord Coe - who is in charge of organising the Games - is concerned that 2012 could dangerously coincide with ancient prophesies that the world will end in 2012. "We're all going to die" laughed an Olympic insider "in all seriousness though, we need to take any threat to athlete security very gravely".

The head of 2012 security has asked for a £500m grant from LOCOG in order to purchase the latest "SkySCANNER" that can detect aliens from "millions of miles away". The report urges London heads to take the threat seriously and suggests that the move could be paid for by "getting the protected spectators" to foot the bill. "It's a no brainer in my opinion" concluded the informal prologue to the report "the fact is that the world should come to its end next year and I would hate for it to happen on my watch". Ticket prices could therefore go up by "at least 35%".

The IOC have recently been forced to deny speculation that the Games themselves were to be moved to 2011 in order to avoid the clash with Armageddon. "It was never discussed" said a spokesman for the President "the Olympics will go ahead in 2012. Regardless of the world ending or not".

BERLINO BACKS WENLOCK TO IMPROVE

The 2009 IAAF World Championship mascot, Berlino the bear has spoken out in favour of his under-fire London 2012 counterpart, Wenlock. The mascot for the Olympic Games has looked out of sorts this year and many have called for his removal by Paralympic mascot, Mandeville. Speaking to Richard Keys and Andy Gray on TalkSPORT, Berlino called the criticism of Wenlock "unfair and completely ridiculous". "A double act is always going to be tough" said the bear from his retirement home in Barbados "Wenlock will find his feet, you can be sure of that. He is world class." Berlino went onto deny speculation that Lord Sebastian Coe has approached him to take over from the "bland" Wenlock.

Berlino attended the International Mascot College in the United States with both Wenlock and Mandeville and so claims to be in "an ideal position" to judge between the two of them. "Wenlock is a big game player. He will only get his act together when it matters - over a year out from the Games, does it really matter?" Berlino was hailed as one of the greatest mascots of all time after his tremendous performance in Berlin just under two years ago. But the going wasn't always that easy. "I was slated by the German press in the run up to the event" explained Berlino "they all said I couldn't cut it and that I didn't have the moves. You've got to rise above it all".

Reports in the weekend's Telegraph linked Berlino with a possible shock move to London next year. "No way" laughed the bear "I couldn't take that pressure anymore. I can honestly say that Seb [Coe] and I have never had any such discussions. Besides, Wenlock is doing a fine job". Berlino did, however, reveal that he had not ruled out a "guest appearance" at the forthcoming World Championships in Daegu. "Why not? I couldn't do the whole thing, but if they call me and say 'Berlino - we want you to come to dance with Usain [Bolt]' then I'd be up for it." Whilst revealing the design of the official mascot, IAAF Chiefs are still yet to name it - a delay that Berlino says is "cruel". "How can he have an identity without a name?" he blasted "it's very poor indeed and a sign of how badly mascots are treated nowadays".

OLYMPIC STADIUM SHOCK

OLYMPIC TRAFFIC 'COULD PARK IN MANCHESTER'

Plans are afoot to build a 25,000 space car park specially for the Olympic Stadium - in Manchester. The echo understands that the idea has been "highly recommended" by Olympic Chiefs in a dramatic bid to avoid high parking charged in East London. "Spectators could park up there and then get a free bus down to London" enthused an insider "it will really free up traffic in Central London".

It is understood that organisers are under pressure to make these Games "the greenest ever" and argue that this - along with their baffling ticket policy - will make a huge contribution. "We figured that if we make it difficult enough for people to come and watch, they will just stay at home and watch it on the television," continued the source "it's not really worth coming anyway - you'll get a much better view from the sofa".

Whilst spokespeople were quick to point out that the plan was "one of a number of possibilities", papers seen by the echo suggest that building work could begin as early as next month. "We are not actively discouraging attendance" said the spokesman, fresh from his role at the Delhi Commonwealth Games "but people should think about whether they really need to come first. We advise against all but essential travel".

COE IN FIGHT FOR OFFICE SPACE AFTER FUNDING CUT

Lord Sebastian Coe may be forced to move into a "downstairs office" after the BOA announced they are to pursue funds they believe are owed to them by the organising committee. His Lordship is said to be "fuming" that such a drastic measure is being considered but insiders told the echo that they "have absolutely no choice". "Our funding is falling all the time" said the source "continuing to sustain a 2,000 square metre suite complete with a jacuzzi and personal masseuse is simply not sustainable". The office space - which is exclusively for the Lord's use - costs around £1m a week in rent alone.

Lord Coe - who insists on being called 'The Baron' by 2012 workers - revealed privately that he "would do anything" to avoid being "shoved downstairs with a bunch of nobodies". It is understood that the former 800m world record holder is pushing for the Paralympics to be "downsized" rather than sacrifice his much admired office. The committee's Deputy Director of Lord Coe's Ties (Radio Appearances, Northern Europe) told the echo that his boss was "getting desperate" and that he had "blown a gasket" when told that he could no longer claim nights out at London's Ritz Hotel on expenses.

These revelations come at the end of a difficult week for London 2012. The man in charge of organising the marathons, Dave Bedford, branded the Lord "unworkable" after it was suggested that the women's event could be "shortened in order to save time". Elsewhere, a delegation from the IOC were left stranded on a London Underground train fro 17 hours after workers walked out on strike and their guide "forgot all about them".

EXCLUSIVE: NEWHAM COULD GO BUST 'BY THE END OF 2011'

Newham and Essex Beagles lost £210m in the last financial year and could go out of business by the end of 2011, according to a report seen exclusively by the lufbra echo. The London club's dire financial performance has been blamed on ever increasing oil prices meaning it is costing a fortune to fly athletes in from all corners of the globe. "Obviously these are very disappointing results" said a senior aide to the Chairman "the important thing is that we have a clear plan on how we deal with this debt".

However, insiders are privately "gravely concerned" that the club will have nowhere to go if they fail to land a lucrative new contract with a private sponsor soon. "The decision not to award us the Olympic Stadium (it went instead to West Ham United) was a major blow" revealed an anonymous source "the club had always budgeted on getting the increased revenue from that. I do not know how we will cope without it - the truth is that there is no Plan B".

Newham spent £150m on wages alone last year and Team Manager Bob Smith, has been told that he will "have no money to spend" for the foreseeable future. It is also understood that Smith has himself taken a 20% pay cut as part of the club's austerity measures. Refusing to comment on the financial situation, Smith used his weekly press conference to talk up the club's "superb squad" and "to notch morale" heading into the National Road Relays next weekend. "We smashed it up last year" said Smith "and there is no reason why we can't do the same this. We are the number one club in Europe right now and will be proving it in the coming weeks and months. Belgrave are history".

The North London club were fined heavily in January after they breached transfer rules. This - coupled with a failed takeover bid from a group of wealthy Arab businessmen - is thought to have led the club into the dire position they now find themselves in. Rumours that the likes of Robbie Schofield and Mo Farah will have to be sold to help pay the bills are unlikely to appease the already uneasy fans. A spokesman for the Newham Supporters Trust blasted the "lazy, good for nothing management" that were "leading the club into terminal decline." Calling for a "fan centred" approach, the source claimed that a 10% increase in season ticket prices were "driving fans away".

DONALDSON APRIL FOOLS PRANK BACKFIRES

Alasdair Donaldson has been arrested for wasting police time after telling John Nutall that "there was a bomb underneath his car". Loughborough's HiPAC was surrounded by Police from first thing this morning and air traffic at East Midlands airport had to be diverted. Meanwhile, the M1 was closed from Junction 22 to 23A until the all clear was given late in the afternoon. The motorway is still at a standstill now as a result.

It is understood that George Gandy's PA (who does not have time to read this blog) told fellow assistant Nutall that he "had seen George put it [the bomb] there" and that it was "armed to go off if [Nutall] opened the door". Horrified, Nutall dialed 999 and the incident escalated from there. Matters were not helped when George Gandy did not answer his mobile phone and Donaldson (now seemingly on a roll) told them it was "because he was in a meeting with terrorists".

Police bomb disposal experts discharged a controlled explosion of a crisp packet at around noon and it was then that Donaldson was taken into custody. It is understood that the incident is likely to have cost in excess of £5m and the Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police slammed blasted Donaldson's actions. "Totally irresponsible" thundered the top cop "he may have done pranks like this when he was in school, but not in the real world. I know that he is an apprentice and if I was Lord Sugar, I'd be saying 'you're fired'!"

It is unlikely that this latest gaffe from Donaldson will go down very well with UKA, however a source refused to speculate on "the future of any members of the admin team". Last year, Gandy himself was forced to apologise after upsetting the whole of Portugal by telling them that "the Spanish were coming to get them". Donaldson will have to hope that the authorities are equally kind to him.