On the same day that Essendon coach James Hird confirmed that the club will continue their pursuit of youth at this year's pre-season draft, the Bombers recorded an operating loss of over $1.5 million for 2010 - their first loss since 1997.

A large portion of the loss has been attributed to the sacking of Matthew Knights, who had two years remaining on his contract - a contract believed to be in the vicinity of $1.1 million.

It is the club's first loss in 13 years after recording strong profits at the turn of the century, when Essendon won the premiership for the 16th time. The club has posted profits over a million dollars five times in the past decade, with the lowest profit, before today's announcement, coming in 2003 when $409,652 was recorded.

Chief executive officer Ian Robson suggested there were a number of factors that contributed to the loss including the decision to implement ''a new coaching model''.

Robson also alluded to the poor on-field performances in the latter part of the season, that in turn contributed to low attendances and therefore a drop in related match-day revenue streams.

"During the course of this year a number of long-term business decisions have been taken which have adversely affected our financial performance," he said.

"While it is of course greatly disappointing to report a loss, it is worth noting that prior to the deduction of all non-cash items such as deprecation, the Club generated a trading cash surplus," Robson said.

"These underlying operating circumstances were further exacerbated with the financial impact of the decision to implement a new coaching model and accelerated depreciation charges related to IT systems development," Robson added.

Essendon was strong in its chase for a high profile coach, which ended with the appointment of Hird as senior coach and Mark Thompson as a senior assistant.

Robson is confident that the coaching panel the Bombers now have in place will help bring the club back into the black next year, as strong membership numbers have already been recorded.

Meanwhile, Hird brightened an otherwise gloomy day for the Bombers with the unveiling of the five new draftees at the Essendon Grammar sports fields on Monday morning.

Hird suggested that the Bombers would ideally like to pick up another midfielder to complement their new draftees, or a ruckman in the draft and add to their current ruck stock of David Hille, Patrick Ryder and Tom Bellchambers.

Essendon has one pick remaining in the pre-season draft after selecting five players - Dyson Heppell, Ariel Steinberg, Michael Ross, Alex Browne and Luke Davis in the national draft last Thursday.

Steinbeck is the tallest of the draftees, standing 191cm tall, 10cm shorter than Hille and Bellchambers and seven below Ryder.

Therefore if a player is available that Essendon believes fills the hole in its list, they will use their pick to complete their senior list for the 2011 season.

"We will have a look and see what is available, another midfielder would be great, maybe a ruckman but we will certainly stay on a youth line. I think our development is all about youth," Hird said.

"We'll have a look through - there's a number of young ruckmen out there, there's a number of mature ruckmen out there in other competitions but it's always good to have a bit of depth in the ruck department.

"We've got David and Paddy and also Tommy Bellchambers, so we've got three very good ruckmen but having a fourth is probably nice to have on your list."

Hird reiterated that the pre-season draft would be used to select youth, a policy he has been strong on since being appointed as coach in September.

The former premiership captain said he would have to discuss the matter with the other members of the coaching panel before deciding on who they would draft.

"We have to sit down with (recruiting manager) Adrian Dodoro and his team and go through what they think is out there but at the moment I think youth is the key."

Whether Essendon choose a midfielder or a ruckman it is sure to add strength to the middle of the ground, after Gippsland Power midfielder and Morrish Medalist, Dyson Heppell, was selected with the Bombers first pick at last Thursday's draft.

Although Heppell played the majority of the year in the back half before moving into the midfield, Hird was confident that Heppell would become a genuine midfielder.

"If you look at his tape from the last eight weeks of the year, he played a lot in the midfield, and in his preliminary final in the TAC Cup he played all over the place," he said.

"He can be a genuine midfielder, and the great thing about Dyson is he can win the ball inside and outside and play different positions. We are very happy he will be a midfielder when we need him to be."

"I think it's not even all about the personnel in the midfield, it's the way you play, and the system you play through there," he said.