Bolton's New Scotsman
Flake ice makers help keep Wanderers multi-national squad on top of their game
Bolton Wanderers has a new Scotsman, the club's second. But these aren't your average recruits to the multi-national squad - they are ice machines. And they are playing a vital role at this popular and perennially over-achieving premiership club.
How do teams like Bolton manage to compete so effectively against the moneybags outfits in the Premiership? Success is down to skilled management and team spirit, plus, since the club hasn't got a squad of 50, a good physio department to make sure the senior players are available for as much of the season as possible.
Luckily there are some areas where the playing field is level - no matter how much money you've got. One such area is the humble ice cube. Or, as is the case with Bolton Wanderers, the humble ice flake.
"We use ice for all sorts of injuries - tendon, ligament, muscular - and flake ice is best because we can mould it to the body, whether it's a finger, a knee or a back," says Bolton's Head of Sports Medicine & Exercise Science Mark Taylor. With an acute new injury the body has an inflammatory response. Ice applied immediately can reduce the inflammation and limit the damage. "It's not magic, but its way more effective than the old 'magic sponge'."
Mark adds: "One of the great things about ice is it's so cheap. A non-league club can afford the same icemaker as a top Premiership one." It may be the Cinderella of treatments, but Mark confirms it is tried, tested and it works. "Ice is effective for all sports, not just football. And the 'mouldability' of flake ice makes it perfect for treating every injury."
Mark has investigated alternatives but reckons flake ice is best. "Some people advocate cubes, some use wonderful (but expensive) pieces of kit, some have bandages with cold liquid running through them that you wrap around the affected body part."
But flake ice is so simple and effective, he adds. "Not only is it incredibly mouldable, you need hardly any training to use it - so junior staff can apply it to players' injuries, and players can apply it themselves. And we can put flake ice into cool boxes for pitch-side treatment or for players to take home."
Recently Bolton Wanderers ordered a Scotsman AF80 ice flaker from Concept Refrigeration of Huddersfield. It was the club's second identical model: "The Scotsman machines we use are good pieces of kit," says Mark. "They're easy to use and clean and they need very little maintenance. The flakes are just the right size and the right quality, too."
The quality is important, since the ice needs to last. "On match days we load ice into a cool box for pitch-side therapy. The Scotsman flake ice is great for this: it's dry and will last in usable condition for up to four hours. To avoid cross contamination we put the ice into sterile plastic bags, which are applied to the injury."
Of course, flake ice is used all the time, not just on match days as an alternative to the magic sponge. "On a typical day we'll have 60 players through the training ground - up to ten of them will be using ice to treat minor injuries, knocks or muscle soreness. We also use ice in the plunge pool, especially if the guys have been doing a hard session in the gym."
Bolton Wanderers is a real 'united nations' of a club - the players come from fifteen different nationalities. At one time or another, all will need ice therapy. "Some of the players from hotter climates weren't used to ice or cryotherapy," says Mark. "They had to be persuaded to use cold treatments, but the results mean they get won over quickly."
