Background
He was born in one of the villages in Zhytomyrschyna, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, to ethnic Russian parents.
He was born in one of the villages in Zhytomyrschyna, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, to ethnic Russian parents.
He was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the Soviet Union earning the title of the best twice in 1964 and 1970. Bannikov had 138 shutouts earning him a place in the symbolic Lev Yashin club Distinguished Master of Sport of Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (1991).
In the city of Zhytomyr he started his career into the big football.
In 1961 he moved to Kiev where he spent 8 years of his playing career for Dynamo. In 1968 he made a record that never was broken in the Soviet football by goalkeeping for 1122 minutes without conceding a single goal.
During his playing career, five times he was named to the symbolic dream team (33 of the best) which was picked on an annual basis. At the end of the 70s he was on the coaching positions for couple of Ukrainian teams.
In 1991 he earned the distinguished master of sport of Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics award.
He held a title of a distinguished coach of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. From 1991 to 1996 he was the president of the Football Federation of Ukraine and until 2001 he stayed there as the vice-president He had initiated the first official match for the Ukraine national football team He had been awarded the Ruby Order of Union of European Football Associations "Foreign service".
He dedicated his whole life to football and particularly to the development of the Ukrainian football.
His first game for the National Team was on 29 November 1964 against Bulgaria which was ties at nil. The most disastrous game came against Sweden in 1972 where he allowed three(!) goals and was substituted.
The game was tied at four, and it was his last game on the international level Having a great career at the club level, his international record was kind of shaky.
Bannikov lost only a single game when the national team yielded to Brazil at home in 1965 (0:3).
During this time he was considered as one of the best players, and together with Dynamo he won the championships in 1967 and 1968. Also he was the member of the Soviet national team that took fourth place at the 1966 Fédération internationale de football association World Cup. In 1972 now with Torpedo Moscow he also won the Soviet Cup competition. In his 14 international representations for his country he allowed 13 goals and won only six of them. His best game for the national team was against Wales at home grounds in 1965 (2:1 win).
As the member of the Kievan club he also was the holder of the Soviet Cup in 1964 and 1966.
