Fulvio Collovati was born in Teor, in the province of Udine on 9 May 1957.

Discovered by Giovanni Trapattoni, he developed at the AC Milan academy and made his Serie A debut for the club in the 1976/1977 season. A centre-back, he became a starter under Nils Liedholm and won the Scudetto with the Rossoneri in the 1979-80 season. He also won a Coppa Italia and Serie B title. In the summer of 1982, he moved to Inter where he spent four seasons, making 109 appearances. His career came to a close after spells with Udinese, Roma and Genoa who finished fourth in the 1990-1991 Serie A season while he was there.

On 24 February 1979, he made his debut for Italy at the age of 21 in a friendly against the Netherlands held in Milan. From then on, he was a regular in Enzo Bearzots’ squad. He was called up for the 1980 European Championship where Italy finished fourth and the 1982 World Cup in Spain which the Azzurri won. He continued through until the 1986 World Cup and his Italy career came to a close after he earned 50 caps and scored three goals.