Fulvio Collovati was born in Teor, in the province of Udine, on 9 May 1957. Discovered by Giovanni Trapattoni, he came through the AC Milan youth ranks and would go on to make his Serie A debut in the Rossoneri shirt in the 1976/77 season. A central defender, he became a regular starter under Nils Liedholm, winning the 1979/80 Scudetto with AC Milan, along with a Coppa Italia and the Serie B league title. In the summer of 1982, he moved across Milan to Inter, where he made a total of 109 appearances across four seasons. He then played for Udinese, Roma and Genoa, contributing to a historic fourth place for the latter of this trio in the 1990/91 Serie A season.

His National Team debut came at the age of 21 on 24 February 1979, in a friendly against the Netherlands in Milan. From that day onwards, he would become a key member of Head Coach Enzo Bearzot’s squad, earning a call-up both for the 1980 Euros, where Italy finished fourth, and for that triumphant 1982 World Cup campaign in Spain. He was also present at the World Cup finals in 1986, his final appearance in Azzurri colours coming in the third group game of the tournament in Mexico. In total, he played 50 times and scored three goals for Italy.