Poliakov was born in Russian Empire in 1912, and immigrated to Palestine in 1922 with his Family.
At the age of 13, Poliakov started playing football with local youth club Allenby Tel Aviv, which was initially affiliated with Maccabi Tel Aviv, but its members decided to withdraw from Maccabi, due to the professional attitude towards sports and merged in 1927 with Hapoel Tel Aviv.
In 1944–45 Poliakov played with Hapoel Petah Tikva, leading the club to the cup final, which the team lost to Hapoel Tel Aviv.
[3] Poliakov was a squad member of the Mandatory Palestine national football team, but wasn't selected to play in any of the national team's five matches before the establishment of Israel, playing in preparation and exhibitions matches only.
[8] His son, Yisrael Poliakov (1941–2007) was an actor and comedian, and part of the HaGashash HaHiver comedy group.