The 31-year-old Castleford-born central defender was with Blue Square North high flyers Stalybridge Celtic last season.

But he had no hesitation in stepping down a couple divisions to move back to his home county.

And his target is to set the Shaymen on their way to a rapid rise up the footballing pyramid.

"Being fairly local I know Halifax is a big club," he said. "And it was great to be offered the chance to be part of a club like this.

"The fan base is superb - they were terrific on Tuesday - and it is a sleeping giant really.

"I would love to be able to play a part in getting it back to where it wants to be - and where it needs to be really."

Payne is one half of what has to be the most experienced central defensive partnership in the Unibond League with Tony Barras.

The duo have more than 600 League appearances between them and spent a couple of seasons together at the back for Macclesfield.

"It is not too bad is it?" said Payne. "We need a couple of young full backs either side to bring the average age down!

"Seriously, it is good to play alongside him because I know what he can do and he knows what I can do."

The duo played the full 90 minutes at Tamworth last weekend and were together for all but the final 20 minutes against Bury on Tuesday before Barras was substituted.

And Payne knows that the more the players work together in game situations the better it will be for the start of the league campaign against Bamber Bridge at the Shay on August 16.

"It was nice to get the work outs and Tuesday was a lot better than Saturday," said Payne. "And we felt a lot better as a team.

"But it is going to take all of pre-season to get into the swing of things.

"It is not going to happen overnight but hopefully we will be firing on all cylinders come the first game of the season.

"We will get better and better.

"As the manager said, at some points on Tuesday he did not know which was the professional team.

"And that's a nice compliment to be paid."