Luke Shaw’s magnificent debut season in the Premier League has turned the teenage Saints defender into one of English football’s top young stars.

At Rydens Enterprise School, on the outskirts of Surrey, there has long been a sense that he was destined to follow such a path.

It might only be the past few months in which the wider footballing world has begun to wake up to the special talent that is the 17-year-old Saints full-back, but at his old comprehensive they have long been aware of Shaw’s enormous potential.

His former PE teacher, Steve Hart, explained: “You teach lots of kids who think they could make it and the reality is that very few do. But Luke was one that you thought had a really good chance.”

Shaw’s role in helping Rydens’ Under-15 team reach the semi-finals of the English Schools’ FA Cup in 2010 is still the stuff of legend there.

Rydens, which had no pedigree to speak of in the competition, stunned some of the country’s most established sporting schools to reach the final four of the national competition.

“They made it all the way to the semi-finals, largely on the back of Luke,” recalled Hart. “We really had ten schoolboy footballers and then we had Luke.

“It wasn’t all him, but he was fundamental to that team and its success. The teams we beat and the standard of football led by Luke will live with me for a long time.”

While Shaw, pictured left, who was picked up by Saints at the age of eight, was being primed to play full-back by his club, at school he was given the opportunity to operate in midfield.

“We knew he played left-back for the club, or left wing back as he described himself, but we wanted him to see as much of the ball as possible for us,” said Hart.

“He was excellent with his teammates. He would see himself as part of the team, rather than an individual player.”

It was not just Shaw’s pure ability that impressed staff at the school, though. It was also his commitment and his attitude.

“Of all the students I have taught who have gone on to play professionally, I have never seen anyone as committed to school football as Luke was,” said Hart.

“He never once said he couldn’t train or couldn’t play because he had a club match.”

Rydens assistant principal and Shaw’s former head of house, Heidi Stone, added: “His attitude and his ethos to school life was really impressive.

“We have a house system here and he was a major part of that. At sports day and other sporting events he would always be up there leading the teams. He was really high profile when it came to other sporting activities as well.

“When he came into the school he was a typical youngster, but he grew and developed and matured. He took on board the guidance he was given and he left here an extremely popular young man, which you can’t say about everyone.

“He had really good relationships with both staff and students. I think the other students had a lot of respect for him. The fact his attitude was so good must have influenced them.”

Hart added: “He wasn’t perfect, but he knew where the line was. He was a young man and he learned from his mistakes along the way. He always had respect for people who gave respect to him.”

On the pitch, Shaw has certainly garnered plenty of respect in the professional ranks.

His performances have led to attention from some of the giants of the English game, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.

In fact, Shaw’s displays carried such a level of maturity last season that it was sometimes easy to forget he was just 17.

When he turns 18, on July 12, he is set to follow in the footsteps of fellow academy graduate James Ward-Prowse by signing a five-year contract at St Mary’s.

Hart revealed that Shaw had admitted to him that it was, at times, hard to believe how quickly this had all become reality.

“I had a conversation with him about ten games into his first-team career,” he said. “We were talking about the games he had played so far, and he had been to places like Stamford Bridge and Anfield, and the phrase he kept using was that he was ‘living the dream’.

“He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be doing what he loves for a job.”

According to his former teachers, Shaw’s success was also built on the strong foundations laid down for him by his parents, Paul and Joanna.

“They were fantastic at getting that balance right, between supporting his football and also realising the importance of his school work,” said Stone.

“They had some hard decisions to make along the way, and they did a fantastic job in supporting him through school and making him appreciate the importance of what he had to do at school.”

The toughest of those decisions came when Shaw moved into Year 11, and Saints offered him a deal that would see him spend four days a week with them and just one at school.

“It was quite a hard decision for them and also for us,” explained Stone. “We wanted to encourage him, and Luke had proved himself.

“But it’s a difficult decision leaving an academic setting. It’s a risk, but it is clear that it was the right decision to allow him to do it.”

Even though Shaw is now a globally-recognised Premier League star, it seems he has not forgotten his past. He has been back to watch a match at school, and is still incredibly close friends with some of his former classmates.

“It would appear his feet are still firmly on the ground,” said Stone. “He still remembers and recognises the hard work of people who worked with him.”

Given that, it is no surprise that staff and pupils at Rydens have watched with such delight at his progression with Saints.

Hart said: “We’re just so unbelievably proud of him, and proud of whatever small part we have played in helping him. As a school, and as a PE department, we are very proud to have shared in that journey.

“We are so thankful for everything he did for the PE department when he was here too, and we just feel quite inspired by him.”

Stone added: “As a teacher, there’s nothing more you can hope for than to see a young person you work closely with have a dream and go on to achieve it.

“He is a fantastic young lad with a lovely family and I am just so incredibly proud of him. Not just his success in football, but just in the way he is. “I always knew he would be successful, but I do laugh at the many, many times I said to him ‘You can’t just rely on your football, Luke!’”