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He started his playing career as a youngster at Burnley alongside his older brother Richard and in fact when he made his debut in a 2-1 home defeat against Orient in 1979 as a 17 year-old the two of them ended the game together in the centre of defence.
His brother left the club but Vince became a regular in the side until picking up an injury late in the 1981/82 promotion side that was to keep him out of the side for almost a year. How he was missed the following season as the Clarets, without a commanding centre half, went back down again.
It was during that promotion season that I have my favourite memory of Vince, an equaliser against Wimbledon that he scored in a fit of temper after we had fallen behind late in the game. This moment can be found in our 100 Great Moments at Number 41.
By the time he was fit again John Bond had arrived at the Turf and after initially snubbing Vince he soon realised that he should be a regular in the side. In fact Bond became so impressed with him that he took him to Birmingham in 1986.
Vince left after a season on a week to week contract, our first in the Fourth Division, and a season where to put it mildly he clashed with then manager Tommy Cavanagh.
Having ended his time at Burnley as captain he soon assumed the same role at Birmingham and was first up the steps to the Royal Box at Wembley to collect the Leyland Daf Cup in 1991. His manager then was Lou Macari and for the second time in his career he was re-signed by a former boss when Macari took him to Stoke.
Vince had come close to signing for Leeds whilst at Birmingham, but the deal fell down at the last minute because of extra demands from the Birmingham chairman. As a childhood Leeds fan this would have been a dream move but in the end it never happened.
He became captain at Stoke too and there was one particularly outstanding display from him in 1992 when he made his first return to the Turf, where he was afforded an outstanding reception from the Burnley fans.
In 1996 he was persuaded to leave Stoke and return to Burnley by Adrian Heath. He struggled for fitness and finally an injury at Hartlepool virtually ended his career. He will tell you that not getting the chance to play regularly for the Clarets again was one of the big disappointments in his career.
After a couple of loan spells he called it a day and after just a short time away he returned to work on the Community Programme where I can tell you he is a much respected and valued member of staff. You will not hear a bad word said about Vince there, so well is he thought of.
So it is not a return to the Turf but definitely a return to the pitch in front of the supporters of both Burnley and Stoke where I rather suspect he will receive a wonderful reception.