Kelly Fisher - Part 1 (From Pub Tables to World Titles)
In Part 1 of our six-part conversation with cue-sports legend Kelly Fisher, MBE, we trace the roots of one of the most accomplished and respected players in the history of women’s pool and snooker. Co-hosts Allison Fisher, MBE and Mark Wilson join Mike Gonzalez to uncover Kelly’s remarkable beginnings in South Elmsall, England — a working-class town where her parents ran a local pub with a snooker table in the back room that would unknowingly launch a Hall of Fame career.
Kelly shares how her lively upbringing — with a mother from a sprawling Irish family and a father who was both a boxer and professional wrestler — gave her equal parts warmth and mental toughness. From tap dancing and kung fu to kicking a football with the boys, she was always in motion. But once she picked up a cue at age 12, everything changed.
Listeners will be drawn into vivid stories of her early lessons with longtime coach Lionel Payne, sneaking into her parents’ pub to play, and competing as the lone girl in men’s club leagues — often facing both age and gender barriers just to take her turn at the table. Through humor and humility, Kelly recalls childhood tournaments, including her unforgettable first World Championship appearance — complete with stage fright, chalk mishaps, and an early glimpse of her fierce competitive spirit.
This opening chapter captures the spark of a future champion: a young girl with extraordinary drive, guided by a devoted father and a coach who saw her potential from the very first shot.
Join us for Legends of the Cue as we begin Kelly Fisher’s inspiring journey from Yorkshire pub tables to world stages — one frame at a time.
Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text.
Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:
Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1
Music by Lyrium.
About
"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”
Pool Professional
Kelly Fisher’s story is the rare cue-sports journey that doesn’t just cross continents and disciplines, it redefines what “world-class” can mean when talent meets toughness, curiosity, and an unrelenting standard for excellence. Born in South Elmsall in West Yorkshire, she grew up in the kind of close-knit, working-class environment that quietly forges competitors: you learn to stand your ground, you learn to show up, and you learn that results matter. Kelly’s first tables weren’t glamorous arenas under TV lights, they were the everyday proving grounds of English pub culture, where the game is part sport, part social ritual, and part apprenticeship in nerve. That early setting helped shape the trademark qualities fans recognize today: poise under pressure, a steel-threaded mindset, and an ability to lock in when everything is on the line.
Very early on, it became clear she wasn’t simply “good for her age.” She was exceptional, driven, precise, and hungry for structure. That structure arrived in the form of coaching and disciplined training, most notably through long-time mentor Lionel Payne, who has spoken publicly about meeting Kelly when she was still a young teenager and watching her potential ignite into something historic. Their relationship is a key through-line in her career: the belief that talent is only the entry ticket, and the real separation happens in the routines no one sees, repetition, fundamentals, and the willingness to be coached even after you’ve won everything. Kelly herself has repeatedly credited the consistency of that coaching bond over…Read More