Ivan Novichkov

Ivan Novichkov is known in Belarusian football for saving penalties. The press has given him the nickname "penalty killer", and the record behind it was set in the First Division in 2023.

A Vitebsk academy graduate, he joined the senior squad in October 2021. Most of the next few years were spent with the reserve side, Vitebsk-2, in the Premier Reserve League and the Second League. Regular senior football came on loan. In April 2023 he joined Lokomotiv Gomel for the rest of the season and became their first-choice goalkeeper. He saved five penalties in that First Division campaign, a record for the division. Two of them came in a single match, against Maksline. He left Lokomotiv in December 2023 when the loan expired.

In March 2024 he went on loan to Smorgon, and his debut came on 16 March against Dinamo Minsk. The Vysshaya Liga season brought more of the same. He won four penalty shootouts, saving four of the five penalties he faced. He is also listed as the sixth goalkeeper in the history of the Belarusian championships to stop two penalties in one match. The loan ended with the 2024 season, and he returned to Vitebsk.

His first official appearance for Vitebsk's senior side came on 20 March 2026, against Gomel. In 2025 he had also been back in Vitebsk-2 colours, when that team reached the final stage of the Second League in September. His contract with the club runs to the end of 2026.