He amassed Bundesliga totals of 424 games and 177 goals over the course of 15 seasons (finishing as the league's top scorer on two occasions), playing mainly for Fortuna Düsseldorf and 1.

Allofs gained nearly 60 caps for West Germany, representing the nation in one World Cup and two European Championships, including the triumphant Euro 1980 tournament.

In 1999, after briefly working as a coach at Fortuna Düsseldorf, he became general manager at former club Werder Bremen, where he, in tandem with head coach Thomas Schaaf, helped the club to great success, winning the double of Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal in 2004, reaching the 2009 UEFA Cup final and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League six times.

He started his career as an attacking midfielder, and scored nearly 100 overall goals for the club, helping it to consecutive German cup wins, and often playing upfront with sibling Thomas.

[3] In his final year, he played 16 games without scoring – the only time other than his first season that it happened in his career – as Werder won the league title.

Pushed to the sidelines by emerging stars Rudi Völler and Jürgen Klinsmann, he retired from international play on 31 March 1988, scoring in a friendly with Sweden.