ENGLAND’S international friendly against France at Wembley will go ahead as planned on Tuesday night, but national scout Jamie Hoyland believes the football world needs time to take stock.

The former Bury player and Bury Times columnist was in the Stade de France for the France v Germany match on Friday night when Paris came under attack.

He has spoken of the panic and terror that took hold inside the ground as news of the terrorist atrocities in the French capital spread amongst supporters.

And he believes the players who witnessed those terrible scenes should not be expected to return to action so soon.

“I am supposed to be in Hanover on Tuesday night to write a scouting report on the Germany v Holland game,” he said, after touching down back at Manchester Airport on Saturday lunchtime.

“I don’t know what the plan is at this stage, but in a way I think there should be a break from international football.

“I know people say you cannot give in to terrorism, but you have to put this into context – so many people have died.

“How can the players focus on football at a time like this, or the fans be asked to go back into a football stadium so soon after this has happened?

“If I was a French footballer, I don’t think I would be in the right frame of mind to play.

“The German players who were in that stadium will also have to go back out there on Tuesday, how do you do a thing like that so soon after this terrible event, with so many questions still unanswered.

“It’s just too much to take in.”

Hoyland, aged 49, who lives in Rawtenstall, said he thought the two bombs let off outside the Stade de France were just “big fireworks or flares” at first.

And he admitted it took quite some time to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

“I am still in shock to be honest,” he said.

“During the game, when the first bomb went off outside the Stade de France, nobody around me knew what it was.

“I just thought it was a big flare or firework.

“The right people obviously knew as the French president was ushered out, but even when the second blast went off before the end of the first half I was still unaware.

“The game just continued and we were all oblivious.

“But news started to filter in after half time.

“I sat down for the second half and two French guys said 10 people had died in the centre of Paris and the noises we heard were bombs.

“I didn’t know what to think at that point, but the game just carried on as if nothing had happened.

“France scored again and there was no panic in the stadium, it might sound unbelievable, but there just wasn’t.

“But I started to look more at my mobile phone for updates and you could sense everyone else in the stadium was doing the same.

“Word started to spread around the stadium, which by the end of the game was in lock down.

“After the match finished you couldn’t get out, so I went up to the bar and got a drink with a few other people.

“We went back to our seats and that’s when it started to get really scary.

“Supporters had started to make their way to the exits but at the far side of the ground I could see people suddenly start to run back in to the stadium and on to the pitch.

“Word had got round that there were gunmen outside with Kalashnikovs, and they were trying to get in.

“Nobody knew at that point what to believe but it suddenly hit home how serious this was.

“We started to get more information about what was happening in Paris and it was a very scary time.

“You just had visions of terrorists getting into the stadium and opening fire. We didn’t know if there were gunmen already inside.

“I heard at that point that a suicide bomber had tried to get inside the stadium and had detonated the bomb outside a turnstile.

“It seemed the plan was to get into the ground, cause panic with the first explosion then set the other one off outside as people tried to flee.

“As far as we knew, the terrorists could be anywhere.

“When I finally got out of the stadium I didn’t know what would be waiting for us, we just didn’t know what was happening.

“I ran to a waiting car and it felt like the driver just closed his eyes and put his foot down.

“Every street we went down there were blue flashing lights all around us.

“By the time I made it to the hotel I was just in shock.

“We started to watch TV and it was just so tragic – that’s when it all sunk in that people had gone out to watch a football match, or a concert, or to a restaurant and so many had lost their lives.”

Thoughts naturally turned to what would happen next, but Hoyland said he was in no rush to leave the safety of his hotel to make the trip home.

“The president announced that the borders had been shut when I got back to the hotel,” he said.

“Whatever they had to do to make the country safe was fine by me, if I had to stay I would stay, but not long after that there was a statement to say trains and planes were running as normal.

“I tried to go to bed but ended up putting on BBC News 24 and watched it all unfold.

“Nobody told us what to do the next morning, so I just decided to go to the airport early.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I got there. I assumed there would be loads of extra security checks to go through but there wasn’t. It was just the same as normal and we breezed through.

“Once I got on the flight and the wheels left the tarmac, I think that’s when the relief hit. That feeling intensified when we touched down in Manchester, you could sense it throughout the plane.

“Police came on to the plane before we were allowed off and asked for anyone who had seen anything or witnessed anything to come forward.

“I thought there would be loads of people, but I was the only one.

“As I had been in the stadium I felt I should tell them everything I saw and heard.

“They told me that where I went into the stadium was where the bomb had gone off.”

As the pictures of the attack started to make the news in the UK, Hoyland said he was inundated with texts, tweets and Facebook messages from concerned friends and relatives.

“Looking back on it, the whole experience was very humbling,” he added.

“I know social media has its bad points, but I couldn’t believe the number of people who got in touch.

“You don’t realise so many people care.

“You really take stock when something like this happens, so I tried to reply to as many people I could to say thanks and assure them I was okay.

“I felt very lucky to get home in one piece but also very conscious of the fact so many people didn’t.

“So many people lost loved ones who had just gone out to watch a game or a concert.

“It is hard to comprehend and I can’t imagine how they must be feeling.

“You hear and read about these things happening, and I must admit I always imagined I would know what to do or how to react.

“But there was so much panic, no-one knew what was going on or where to turn. It was the most terrifying night of my life and my heart goes out to everyone who has been affected.”