The Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder, now 22, is a relatively late developer now feels ready to make his presence felt in the Barclays Premier League at senior level.
One of many talented players in Gareth Southgate's high-calibre England Under-21 squad that played some outstanding football, only to falter on reaching the last eight of the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in June, Pritchard's progress has raised his profile dramatically this year.
Alex Pritchard, pictured in 2012, has been with the Spurs academy since he was eight
He may not have established himself in the England reckoning had it not been for his stand-out form with Brentford last season when his 12 goals and all-round play earned him a place in the PFA Championship team of the year as Mark Warburton's team reached the play-off semi-finals.
And he may not have been ready for that stage had it not been for his high-quality contribution to Swindon Town's 2013-14 campaign when he was nominated for both the Football League's Young Player of the Year and the League One Player of the Year.
Just as significant a platform for this rise, was Pritchard's breakthrough in 2012-13 for Spurs in the U21 Premier League.
The diminutive playmaker scored six times in 11 appearances as he flourished at the top end of academy football, while also contributing four goals in four matches in the NextGen Series.
It was through showing his capabilities at this level that Peterborough United led the charge of lower-division clubs seeking his services on loan and England took him to the FIFA U20 World Cup in Turkey that summer.
Alex Pritchard in action for the Three Lions in the U20 World Cup in Turkey in 2013
And Thurrock-born Pritchard has paid tribute to the Premier League's finishing school.
"The U21 Premier League is a massive part of you getting to that stage," he said. "It's great, playing against some of the best young players at a young age and then you get to the age when you want to go out and play first-team football.
"Some players have two years with the U21s at their club and go into their first team because they get the chance or they're good enough already.
“For me, I've played two years with Spurs' U21s and then had to go on loan to get my experience that way. Hopefully, now I can go and play in the Premier League.
"I feel like I've done my time in League One, done my time in the Championship and now it's time for me to get a chance at Premier League football."
Pritchard has been at Spurs since the age of eight and has seen the support resources improve markedly since he turned professional four years ago.
The club had already been significantly supportive when, at the age of 12, he missed a year's development with Osgood Schlatter disease, the knee growth disorder that afflicts many sporting teenagers.
But with the advance of technology, Pritchard has felt the benefit of being at a top-level academy where he has received every assistance in terms of personal fitness programmes, video match analysis, physiotherapy and nutritional support.
Alex Pritchard celebrates a goal for Brentford during his loan spell in the Championship during the 2014-15 campaign
"It was already at a very high level when I came into Spurs' U21s but now it's all getting on to the next step," he said.
"We were getting our own programmes to help our physical development and receiving DVDs of our own games and individual bits to watch yourself back and see what you could do better.
"Now it's on another level. You walk out of the changing room and into the next room where the computers are waiting for you. That's the difference."
'Senior ambition'
Spurs first spotted Pritchard when, as a pupil at Kenningtons Primary School in Aveley, Essex, he was training at a Coerver Coaching school. As a young academy player, he trained weekly at White Hart Lane.
With the likes of Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and Tom Carroll also now in the England ranks, Spurs are clearly a club who mean business when it comes to blooding talent.
Looking back to his formative years, Pritchard said: "I was just enjoying my football. I was playing for the school, Thurrock District, Tottenham, then at secondary school, Belhus Chase.
Alex Pritchard, left, with Spurs team-mate Harry Kane and Calum Chambers on England duty
"Spurs wanted me fresh but I'd end up playing for my school then going on to training. I was probably playing every day. But then I got Osgood Schlatter's, and that set me back for a season.
"Spurs were very good to me, with all their facilities available, otherwise I would have been in a bad way, but I grew out of it. At least I got that out of the way early."
Pritchard recalls scoring on his Spurs U18 debut, coming on as a substitute at the age of 16 away to Birmingham City, in a squad that included the likes of Carroll, with whom he has progressed all the way to England Under-21s.
"We basically grew up together," he revealed.
He then had a year playing down an age-group – "a bit of a kick in the teeth," he says – but started playing U21 Premier League football at the age of 19 which also motivated Pritchard to impose himself to progress into league football.
'Tough in the U21s'
"It was much tougher in the U21 League," he revealed.
"When you're playing for points and travelling to away games. Then it was a different learning experience going on loan in the Football League. That's what young boys need – to be playing for three points, teaming up with people you don't know and getting used to it all.
"It's people's careers, the older boys, wanting to get promotion, or to stay in the league, it's their livelihoods. If you're 3-2 up away at Blackburn and you need to get a result, you have to defend for your life and put your body on the line."
Pritchard wanted to do that for England's U21s in Czech Republic this summer. But just as he was demonstrating how he could take control of a match, in the 1-0 victory over Sweden in Olomouc, weaving in across the line from the left-hand side and always looking to penetrate and not just pass for the sake of it, he sustained an ankle ligament injury from which he is just recovering now.
Alex Pritchard suffered an ankle ligament injury during the game with Sweden in the Euro Finals
Southgate's team missed out on a semi-final place when they lost the final group game 3-1 to Italy, with Pritchard staying on to cheer his team-mates from the stand.
"The Euros was a great experience and I had a good time with the lads," said Pritchard. "That tournament didn't go as planned because we thought we had a good chance there but it wasn't to be.
"Obviously, you want to play for your country at any level and now I've finished with the U21 group, I want to concentrate on establishing myself at club level, believe in myself and push on for England seniors."
Peter Lansley (@PeteLansley on Twitter) was for 13 years The Times's Midlands football correspondent. He is a Level 2/Youth Module 3 coach working for Derby County's Community Trust.
