Bannikov had 138 clean sheets earning him a place in the symbolic Lev Yashin club.

In 1959 Lev Misozhnik, the coach of the local Avanhard Chernihiv football team, was fascinated Victor so much that he gladly agreed to try himself in a new capacity.

Finally make a decision in favor of football, according to Viktor Bannikov, he was forced by purely mundane considerations.

He made his debut at the age of 20 in the Soviet Second League, an impressive achievement considering many teams still preferred an experienced pair of hands between the sticks.

In 1968, he made a record that never was broken in the Soviet football by goalkeeping for 1122 minutes without conceding a single goal.

[9][10][11] 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.