Bannikov was born in one of the villages in Zhytomyrschyna, Ukrainian SSR, to ethnic Russian parents. He started his career with Avanhard Zhytomyr. In the 1960–61 season he played for Desna Chernihiv. In 1961 he moved to Kiev 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 in 1967 and 1968. Also he was the member of the Soviet national team that took fourth place at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. 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.
International
In his 14 international representations for his country he allowed 13 goals and won only six of them. His first game for USSR 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. Bannikov lost only a single game when the national team yielded to Brazil at home in 1965.
Professional career and awards
During his playing career, five times he was named to the symbolic dream team which was picked on an annual basis. At the end of the 1970s 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. 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 UEFA "For service". He dedicated his whole life to football and particularly to the development of the Ukrainian football.
