Friends, I continue to tell you about the goalkeepers of Kiev’s "Dynamo". Today’s focus is on Viktor Bannikov.
Viktor BannikovBusiness card. Born in 1939 in the village of Luginy (Zhytomyr region). Honored Master of Sports, Honored Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of Ukraine. Played for teams — "Avangard" (Zhytomyr), "Desna" (Chernihiv), "Dynamo" (Kiev), "Torpedo" (Moscow).
Champion of the former USSR in 1966, 1967, 1968, three-time holder of the National Cup. Played 209 matches in the top league (151 as part of Kiev's "Dynamo").
The "golden" sixties for the Kiev team also saw a unique goalkeeper achievement by Bannikov. From August 7, 1967, to April 17, 1968, in matches of the union championship, he did not concede a single goal into the Dynamo net for 1122 consecutive minutes. This achievement remains unmatched by anyone in the entire post-Soviet space.
Viktor Maksymovych is the holder of the "Ogonyok" magazine prize for the best goalkeeper in the country (1964 and 1970). He was listed among the "33 best" five times. Played 19 matches for the USSR national team, participated in the qualifiers for the 1966 World Cup and the 1972 European Championship.
How a High Jumper Became a Goalkeeper
Viktor Bannikov's youth was spent in Zhytomyr. While working at a shoe factory, he became seriously interested in sports. He was naturally well-coordinated. He practiced athletics, high jumps, clearing a height of 1 meter 95 centimeters, and became a master of sports in this discipline.
The high jump sector was located behind the goalposts of the football field where the local club "Avangard" trained. One day, the footballers offered Viktor to try playing in goal. He agreed and showed that catching the ball in a jump was quite easy for him. Bannikov (he was 21 years old) was invited to join the team as a goalkeeper.
But he did not stay long in Zhytomyr, as he was dismissed for being deemed unpromising. After that, he played for the physical culture collective "Shakhtar" (Korostyshiv).
In June 1960, he moved to Chernihiv's "Avangard" (the following season — "Desna"), where he was invited by recommendation from players who had previously moved from Korostyshiv to Chernihiv.
During the 1961 season, in which "Desna" took 10th place in the Ukrainian B-class zones, and among all Ukrainian teams in the USSR championship finished 13th, Bannikov displayed "a game on the brink of fantasy" in individual matches, which led him, by the recommendation of Chernihiv's coach Iosif Lifshits, to transfer to Kiev's "Dynamo".
The Kiev coach Vyacheslav Solovyov also witnessed Bannikov's high potential. He attended a friendly match in Chernihiv, where "Desna" hosted the Swedish club Hammarby from Stockholm. The home goalkeeper played excellently. The Dynamo coach invited him to play another match against the Swedes in Kiev as part of "Dynamo".
On November 7, 1961, in the second half of the match "Dynamo — Hammarby", Bannikov, an unknown goalkeeper to any of the Kiev fans, replaced Oleg Makarov. The game ended in a draw — 0:0. On that day, the goalkeeper officially became a Dynamo player.
The legendary goalkeeper in a green sweater, Oleg Aleksandrovich Makarov, took care of the debutant. Bannikov's first successful season coincided with the arrival of coach Viktor Maslov at Dynamo.
In 1964, together with his partners, he won the USSR Cup and became the laureate of the "Ogonyok" magazine prize for the best goalkeeper of the season.
The guardian of Dynamo's goal shone in the cup matches, demonstrating enviable jumping ability, reaction, and determination in the struggle for the ball in two semifinals — on September 8 and 9 against Moscow's "Spartak" — 0:0 and 3:2.
Oleg Makarov commented on his talented successor: "In these matches against Spartak, Viktor jumped to catch more balls than he had in his entire previous career."
And in the final against the Kuibyshev team "Krylia Sovetov", Bannikov played reliably — 1:0.
Invitation to the National Team
The Dynamo player began to be called up to the USSR national team. He played brilliantly in matches against the teams of Greece, Wales, and Austria. However, in the Moscow match on July 4, 1965, at Luzhniki against the world champion Brazilian national team, the "flying goalkeeper", as Bannikov was then called, conceded two goals after shots from Pelé and Flávio, and he was replaced. The guests won 3:0. Once again, Pelé, the genius, struck the hosts’ goal, which was already being defended by Andzor Kavazashvili.
After returning from England with the national team, which finished in 4th place at the World Cup and was awarded a set of bronze medals, Bannikov felt acute competition from Yevhen Rudakov at Dynamo. In 1969, Viktor injured his arm, and his competitor firmly secured the goalkeeper position for the Kiev team.
In 1970, Bannikov transferred to Moscow's "Torpedo", where the coach Viktor Maslov also returned from Kiev. In this club, Maksymych became the best goalkeeper in the country again, winning the "Ogonyok" magazine prize. He continued to be called up to the national team; at the age of 34, he won his third national cup in his career (1972).
Viktor Bannikov also showed himself as a successful official. He was the first president of the national federation in the history of independent Ukraine. He was elected to this position in 1991.
Bannikov was very active during a period when the FFU was admitted to FIFA and UEFA. Interestingly, as Bannikov himself noted, the financial support for the FFU during that hard time was actively provided by the Kiev businessman Grigory Surkis.
Bannikov left a bright mark on domestic football both as a talented player and as a capable organizer. His heart stopped beating quite early at the age of 62 (2000).
A stadium near the FFU bears Bannikov's name. In June 2002, the first international youth tournament "Memorial of Viktor Bannikov" was held. Over the years, teams from Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Turkey, Latvia, Slovakia, Belgium, the USA, Georgia, Israel, and Bulgaria competed for this trophy.
Due to the aggression of the fascist Russian horde against our country, this popular tournament has taken a timeout. But after Ukraine's victory in the war against Putin's Reich, the popular competitions will definitely resume.
Alexander LIPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua
