Viktor Maksymovych Bannikov (28 April 1938-25 April 2001) was a Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 football official and a Soviet player. He was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 earning the title of the best twice in 1964 and 1970. Bannikov had 138 shutout

Shutout

In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....

s earning him a place in the symbolic Lev Yashin club.

Playing career

He was born in one of the villages in Zhytomyrschyna

Zhytomyr Oblast

Zhytomyr Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on September 22, 1937....

, Ukrainian SSR

Ukrainian SSR

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...

, to ethnic Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 parents. In the city of Zhytomyr

Zhytomyr

Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...

 he started his career into the big football. In 1961 he moved to Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 where he spent 8 years of his playing career for Dynamo. During this time he was considered as one of the best players, and together with Dynamo he won the championships

Soviet Top League

The Soviet Top League since 1970 was officially known as the Supreme League serving as the top division of Soviet Union football since 1936.It was one of the best football leagues in Europe ranking second among the UEFA members in 1988-1989 seasons...

 in 1967 and 1968. Also he was the member of the Soviet national team that took fourth place at the 1966 FIFA World Cup

1966 FIFA World Cup

The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...

. As the member of the Kievan club he also was the holder of the Soviet Cup in 1964 and 1966. In 1968 he made a record that never was broken in the Soviet football by goalkeeping for 1122 minutes without conceding a single goal. In 1972 now with Torpedo Moscow he also won the Soviet Cup competition.

Professional career and awards

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 USSR award. He held a title of a distinguished coach of the Ukrainian SSR

Ukrainian SSR

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...

. From 1991 to 1996 he was the president of the Football Federation of Ukraine

Football Federation of Ukraine

The Football Federation of Ukraine is the governing body of football in Ukraine. It governs the football competitions for the Ukrainian Professional League, including the Ukrainian Cup, the Amatory, the competitions among the youth , and also the Ukraine national football team. It also sets the...

 and until 2001 he stayed there as the vice-president. He had initiated the first official match for the Ukraine national football team

Ukraine national football team

The Ukraine national football team is the national football team of Ukraine and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. After Ukrainian Independence and breakaway from the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on 29 April 1992...

. He had been awarded the Ruby Order of UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 "For service". He dedicated his whole life to football and particularly to the development of the Ukrainian football.

National team

In his 14 international representations for his country he allowed 13 goals and won only six of them. 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. His best game for the national team was against Wales at home grounds in 1965 (2:1 win). Bannikov lost only a single game when the national team yielded to Brazil at home in 1965 (0:3).