The central defender had played only a handful of minutes since September due to injury and had been ruled out of contention for the rest of the campaign after a second ankle operation.
But when Vince departed, caretaker boss Nigel Jemson turned to Payne, who has a wealth of experience, to be his man on the touchline.
And it could be the first step on the road to a career in football management for the former Chesterfield and Macclesfield man.
"I would like to go into the management side," said Payne who suffered his season-ending injury in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup at Nantwich.
"And it was nice of Nigel to ask me to help him.
"It is a privilege to do it."
The biggest boost for the 33-year-old was that by being asked to help Jemson he became part of the squad again.
"It is nice to feel part of it again," said Castleford-born Payne.
"When you are injured there seems to be a bit of distance between you and the rest of the lads.
"You can't get involved in training, you are not involved in matches and it is frustrating.
"To help out on the touchline has been brilliant."
While the Jemson/Payne management team may only have a short time to work together, he knows there will be work to do for whoever takes over in the close season.
And while it is widely acknowledged that man for man the Shay squad is as good as anything in Unibond One North, Payne wonders whether the players' mental attitude has been right.
"There are a lot of things that will need to be sorted in the future," he said. "We have a mentality at the moment where we roll over and die a little bit.
"The lads come in with a sweat on but I don't know whether the full desire is there at times."
Town were already ailing when Payne and Jemson took charge - the manager would not have been sacked had that not been the case.
But the final nails in the coffin were applied with a draw at Ossett on Good Friday and Monday's defeat at home to Curzon Ashton.
"Friday was, without being disrespectful, outrageous really," said Payne.
"On Monday I thought the penalty that changed the game was a little bit harsh.
"A few heads went down and our own mistakes have cost us."