Derbyshire ( or ) is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx. 225 miles, part of the National Forest, and borders on Greater Manchester to the North West, West Yorkshire to the North, South Yorkshire to the North East, Nottinghamshire to the East, Leicestershire to the South East, Staffordshire to the West and South West and Cheshire also to the West. In 2003 the Ordnance Survey placed Church Flatts farm, approximately north, at Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire, as the furthest point from the sea in Great Britain.

The city of Derby is now a unitary authority area, but remains part of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. The non-metropolitan county contains 30 towns with between 10,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. There is a large amount of sparsely populated agricultural upland: 75% of the population live in 25% of the area.

History

The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited, probably briefly, by humans 200,000 years ago during the Aveley interglacial as evidenced by a Middle Paleolithic Acheulian hand axe found near Hopton.

Further occupation came with the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age when Mesolithic hunter gatherers roamed the hilly tundra. The evidence of these nomadic tribes is centred around limestone caves located on the Nottinghamshire border. Deposits left in the caves date the occupancy at around 12,000 to 7,000 BCE.

Burial mounds of Neolithic settlers are also situated throughout the county. These chambered tombs were designed for collective burial and are mostly located in the central Derbyshire region. There are tombs in Minning Low, and Five Wells, which date back to between 2000 and 2500 BCE. Three miles west of Youlgreave lies the Neolithic henge monument of Arbor Low, which has been dated to 2500 BCE.

It is not until the Bronze Age that real signs of agriculture and settlement are found in the county. In the moors of the Peak District signs of clearance, arable fields and hut circles were discovered after archeological investigation. However this area and another settlement at Swarkestone are all that have been found.

During the Roman invasion the invaders were attracted to Derbyshire because of the lead ore in the limestone hills of the area. They settled throughout the county with forts built near Brough in the Hope Valley and near Glossop. Later they settled around Buxton, famed for its warm springs, and set up a fort near modern-day Derby in an area now known as Little Chester.

Several kings of Mercia are buried in the Repton area.

Following the Norman Conquest, much of the county was subject to the forest laws. To the northwest was the Forest of High Peak under the custodianship of William Peverel and his descendants. The rest of the county was bestowed upon Henry de Ferrers, a part of it becoming Duffield Frith. In time the whole area was given to the Duchy of Lancaster. Meanwhile the Forest of East Derbyshire covered the whole county to the east of the River Derwent from the reign of Henry II to that of Edward I.

Economy

Derbyshire is a mixture of a rural economy in the west, with a former coal mining economy in the northeast (Bolsover district), the Erewash Valley around Ilkeston and in the south around Swadlincote. The landscape varies from typical arable country in the flat lands to the south of Derby, to the hill farming of the high gritstone moorlands of the southern Pennines, which effectively begin to the north of the city. This topology and geology has had a fundamental effect on Derbyshire's development throughout its history. In addition it is rich in natural resources like lead, iron, coal, and limestone. The limestone outcrops in the central area led to the establishment of large quarries to supply the industries of the surrounding towns with lime for building and steel making, and latterly in the 20th century cement manufacture. The industrial revolution also increased demand for building stone, and in the late 19th & early 20th century the railways' arrival led to a large number of stone quarries to exploit the natural resources of the area. This industry has left its mark on the countryside but is still a major industry: a lot of the stone is supplied as crushed stone for road building and concrete manufacture, and is moved by rail. The Limestone areas of central Derbyshire were found to contain veins of lead ore, and these were mined from Roman times.

Its remoteness in the late 18th century and an abundance of fast-flowing streams led to a proliferation of water power at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, following the mills pioneered by Richard Arkwright. For this reason, amongst others, Derbyshire has been said to be the home of the Industrial Revolution, and part of the Derwent Valley has been given World Heritage status.

Nationally famous companies in Derbyshire are Thorntons just south of Alfreton and JCB subsidiary JCB-Power Systems have an engine factory in South Derbyshire. Ashbourne Water used to be bottled in Buxton by Nestlé Waters UK until 2006 and Buxton Water still is. Other major employers in the county, especially around the Derby area, are Rolls-Royce plc, Bombardier Transportation and Toyota.

Politics

Derbyshire has a three-tier local government since the local government reorganisation in 1974. It has a county council based in Matlock and eight district councils and since 1998, a unitary authority of Derby. Derby remains part of Derbyshire only for ceremonial purposes.

Derbyshire has become smaller during government re-organisation over the years. For example, many suburbs of Sheffield that were parts of the county such as Mosborough, Totley and Dore were lost to South Yorkshire in the late 1960s. Marple Bridge was transferred to the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester. However, Derbyshire gained part of the Longdendale valley and Tintwistle from Cheshire in 1974.

At the third tier are the parish councils, which do not cover all areas. The eight district councils in Derbyshire and the unitary authority of Derby are shown in the map to the right.

These district councils are responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. Education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning are the responsibility of the County Council.

The county is divided into ten constituencies for the election of Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. As of May 2010, five constituencies are represented by Labour MPs, while the remaining five elected a Conservative MP. Derbyshire residents are part of the electorate for the East Midlands constituency for elections to the European Parliament.

Although Derbyshire is in the East Midlands, some parts, such as High Peak, are closer to the northern cities of Manchester and Sheffield and these parts do receive services which are more affiliated with northern England; for example, the North West Ambulance Service, Granada Television and United Utilities serve the High Peak and some NHS Trusts within this region are governed by the Greater Manchester Health Authority. Outside the main city of Derby, the largest town in the county is Chesterfield.

Education

For a list of individual schools see   :Category:Schools in Derbyshire The Derbyshire school system is comprehensive with no selective schools. There is selection by average house price in some areas.

The independent sector includes Trent College and The Elms School- junior school to Trent College are located near Derby.

Settlements

This is a list of the towns in Derbyshire.

Sport

The county has two football teams currently playing in the Football League:

Derby County F.C.

Chesterfield F.C..

There are also many non-league teams playing throughout the county, most notably Alfreton Town F.C. who play in the Conference National. The county is also now home to the world's oldest football club, Sheffield F.C. who have their home ground at Dronfield in North East Derbyshire.

Derbyshire also has a cricket team based at the County Cricket Ground. Derbyshire County Cricket Club currently play in Division two of the County Championship. There are also rugby league clubs based in the north of the county, the North Derbyshire Chargers and in Derby (Derby City RLFC). The County has numerous Rugby Union Clubs, including Derby, Matlock, Ilkeston, Ashbourne, Bakewell and Amber Valley

The county is a popular area for a variety of recreational sports such as rock climbing, hill walking, hang gliding, caving, sailing on its many reservoirs, and cycling along the many miles of disused rail tracks that have been turned into cycle trails, such as the Monsal Trail and High Peak Trail.

Local attractions

The county of Derbyshire has many attractions for both tourists and local people. The county offers spectacular Peak District scenery such as Mam Tor, Kinder Scout, and other more metropolitan attractions such as Bakewell, Buxton, and Derby. Local places of interest include Bolsover Castle, Castleton, Chatsworth House, Crich Tramway Museum, Peak Rail steam railway, Midland Railway steam railway, Dovedale, Haddon Hall, Heights of Abraham and Matlock Bath.

In the north of the county, three large reservoirs, Howden, Derwent and Ladybower, were built during the early part of the 20th century to supply the rapidly growing populations of Sheffield, Derby and Leicester with drinking water. The land around these is now extensively used for leisure pursuits like walking and cycling, as the surrounding catchment area of moorland is protected from development, as part of the Peak District National Park.

There are many properties and lands in the care of the National Trust, located in Derbyshire that are open to the public, such as Calke Abbey, Hardwick Hall, High Peak Estate, Ilam Park, Kedleston Hall, Longshaw Estate near Hathersage, and Sudbury Hall on the Staffordshire border.

County emblems

As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Jacob's Ladder as the county flower.

In September 2006, an unofficial county flag was introduced, largely on the initiative of BBC Radio Derby. The flag consists of a St. George cross encompassing a golden Tudor Rose, which is an historical symbol of the county. The blue field represents the many waters of the county, its rivers and reservoirs, while the cross is green to mark the great areas of countryside.

Demographics

Derby 221,708 6.7% 87.5% 8.4% 1.8% 67.4% 4.5% 0.6% 15.9% 16.1% 4.0%

Derbyshire Compared
UK Census 2001	|	Derbyshire	East Midlands	England
Total population	|	734,585	4,172,174	49,138,831
Foreign born (outside Europe)	|	1.4%	4.5%	6.9%
White	|	98.5%	93.5%	91.0%
Asian	|	0.5%	4.1%	4.6%
Black	|	0.2%	1.0%	2.3%
Christian	|	77.0%	72.0%	71.7%
Muslim	|	0.2%	1.7%	3.1%
Hindu	|	0.1%	1.6%	1.1%
No religion	|	14.7%	16.0%	14.6%
Over 65	|	16.7%	16.1%	16.0%
Unemployed	|	3.2%	3.3%	3.3%

In 1801 the poulation was 147,481 According to the UK Census 2001 there were 956,301 people spread out over the county's 254,615 hectares. This was estimated to have risen to 990,400 in 2006.

The county's population grew by 3.0% from 1991 to 2001 which is around 21,100 people. This figure is higher than the national average of 2.65% but lower than the East Midlands average of 4.0%. The county as a whole has an average population density of 2.9 people per hectare making it less densely populated than England as a whole. The density varies considerably throughout the county with the lowest being in the region of Derbyshire Dales at 0.88, and highest outside of the main cities in the region of Erewash which has 10.04 people per hectare.

!Year	1801	1851	1901	1911	1921	1931	1939	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001
!Derbyshire non-metropolitan county	132,786	223,414	465,896	542,697	565,826	590,470	613,301	637,645	651,284	666,013	687,404	717,935	734,585
!Derby unitary authority	14,695	48,506	118,469	132,188	142,824	154,316	167,321	181,423	199,578	219,558	214,424	225,296	221,716
!Total as a ceremonial county	147,481	271,920	584,365	674,885	708,650	744,786	780,622	819,068	850,862	885,571	901,828	943,231	956,301

In literature and popular culture

In Jane Austen's novel ''Pride and Prejudice'' the country home of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Pemberley, is situated in Derbyshire. In that novel, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire is named as one of the estates Elizabeth Bennet visits before arriving at Pemberley. In the 2005 film adaptation of the novel Chatsworth House itself represents Pemberley.

The events of the play ''Arcadia'', by Tom Stoppard, take place in the fictional country house of Sidley Park in Derbyshire.

Alfreton is mentioned in the novel ''Sons and Lovers'' by D. H. Lawrence, when a character gets a train to Alfreton and walks to Crich to see a lover.

George Eliot's novel ''Adam Bede'' is set in a fictional town based on Wirksworth.

Georgette Heyer's detective/romance novel ''The Toll-Gate'' is set in 1817 around a fictional toll-gate in Derbyshire.

The 1986 film ''Lady Jane'' by Trevor Nunn, starring Helena Bonham Carter has scenes filmed at ''Haddon Hall''.

The 1987 film ''The Princess Bride'' by Rob Reiner, starring Cary Elwes was filmed in Derbyshire, includes scenes at ''Haddon Hall'' and in the ''White Peak'' and ''Dark Peak''.

The 1988 film ''Lair of the White Worm'' by Ken Russell, starring Hugh Grant was filmed in Derbyshire. The opening title sequence is of ''Thor's Cave'' in the Manifold valley.

See also

Derbyshire lead mining history

Derbyshire Places of interest

List of football clubs in Derbyshire

Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire

High Sheriff of Derbyshire

References

Further reading

External links

Bygone Derbyshire - A history

artsderbyshire.org.uk - Derby & Derbyshire arts guide

Derbyshire Extensive Urban Survey English Heritage and Derbyshire County Council

Flora of Derbyshire - Maps and information on vascular plant distribution

Category:Non-metropolitan counties Category:East Midlands

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playername	Matt Derbyshire
fullname	Matthew Anthony Derbyshire
dateofbirth	April 14, 1986
cityofbirth	Great Harwood
countryofbirth	England
height
position	Striker
currentclub	Nottingham Forest
clubnumber	8
youthyears1	| youthclubs1
years1	?–2003 | clubs1 Great Harwood Town| caps1 ? | goals1 ?
years2	2003–2009 | clubs2 Blackburn Rovers | caps2 63 | goals2 10
years3	2004–2005 | clubs3 → Plymouth Argyle (loan) | caps3 12 | goals3 0
years4	2005–2006 | clubs4 → Wrexham (loan) | caps4 16 | goals4 10
years5	2009 | clubs5 → Olympiacos (loan) | caps5 7 | goals5 5
years6	2009–2011 | clubs6 Olympiacos | caps6 19 | goals6 6
years7	2010–2011 | clubs7 → Birmingham City (loan) | caps7 13 | goals7 0
years8	2011– | clubs8 Nottingham Forest | caps8 2 | goals8 0
nationalyears1	2007–2009
nationalteam1	England U21
nationalcaps1	14
nationalgoals1	4
club-update	07:32, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
nationalteam-update	}}

Matthew Anthony "Matt" Derbyshire (born 14 April 1986) is an English footballer who plays for Nottingham Forest. He is a striker, who played for Blackburn Rovers for five years, and had loan spells with Plymouth Argyle, Wrexham and Olympiacos, before joining the latter club on a permanent basis in 2009. He played for Birmingham City on loan for the 2010–11 season. He won 14 caps for the England under-21 side.

Club career

Blackburn Rovers

Born in Great Harwood, Derbyshire joined his boyhood team Blackburn Rovers from local club Great Harwood Town in 2003 for a small fee, having scored 18 goals in nine appearances. He had previously worked in the club's community department, coaching young children. He rejected a move to Manchester United in favour of Blackburn as he felt his first team opportunities would be greater there.

He had a loan spell at Plymouth Argyle but did not manage to score in any of his 13 games, resulting in Mark Hughes ending the player's loan early. He then joined Wrexham on loan for the final three months of the season where he made a name for himself hitting the net on 10 occasions from 16 appearances.

He opened his senior goal account for the first team in a 3–0 against Wigan Athletic on 1 January 2007 before extending his tally further with the opener away to Everton in a 4–1 FA Cup Third Round victory on 7 January. He made his first Premiership start against Arsenal on 13 January, and scored his third goal in four games against Manchester City.

Derbyshire's impressive form continued the following week with two goals and an assist against Luton Town in the FA Cup Fourth Round. He also scored against Manchester United taking advantage of a Michael Carrick error to give Blackburn Rovers a 1–0 lead, although they went onto lose the match 4–1.

He finished his first Premier League season with 9 goals in all competitions, from 14 starts and 16 substitute appearances. In the 2007–08 season, Derbyshire scored in the first match of the season, against Middlesbrough, coming on as a substitute to score the winner in a 2–1 victory.

On 1 March 2008, he scored a late stoppage-time winner against Newcastle United, and on 20 September, he again scored another late winner against Fulham, putting away a poacher's goal assisted by Roque Santa Cruz.

Olympiacos

On 28 January 2009, Derbyshire moved to Olympiacos on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season. He made his first appearance for the club as a substitute in the first leg of a Greek Football Cup match at PAOK's Toumba Stadium. In the return match, his home debut, Derbyshire scored a goal in extra time, securing progress to the next round (Greek Cup, semi-finals 2008–09).

He made his league debut on 14 February 2009 in a 2–1 home victory over Aris as a 80th minute substitute for Diogo. On 15 March 2009, he scored his first goal in a 5–0 win over Iraklis with his first touch of the ball, after coming on for Luciano Galletti in 81st minute adding his second goal (and Olympiacos' fifth) just five minutes later. The following week he started the match against Panionios and played the whole 90 minutes, scoring in a 2–3 away win.

On 2 May 2009, Derbyshire played a pivotal role in the Greek Cup final against cross-city rivals AEK Athens. With Olympiacos 2–0 down, Derbyshire was brought on at half-time. Three minutes after coming on, Derbyshire scored for Olympiacos. The game then went to 2–2 before AEK Athens had seemingly scored the winning goal in stoppage time. However, with the last touch of the game, Derbyshire popped up to head in the equaliser in the sixth minute of added time, bringing the score to 3–3, after having suffered a concussion following a clash with an opponent. It was obvious during celebrations that he was not fully aware, and he stated afterwards that he realised he had scored from the cheers of fans. Olympiacos went on to win the match 15–14 on penalties, and Derbyshire was handed the Man of the match award for his efforts. On 18 June 2009, Blackburn Rovers and Olympiacos agreed a fee for the permanent transfer of Derbyshire. He signed a four-year contract on 23 June 2009.

On 21 March 2010, Derbyshire scored the winning goal against Panathinaikos, in a 0–1 away victory, and was instantly nicknamed ''The English Killer''.

In August 2010, the team's new coach, Ernesto Valverde, told Derbyshire that he was not part of his plans for the 2010–11 season, so he should search for a new team.

Birmingham City (loan)

Derbyshire returned to England when he signed for Birmingham City on 16 August 2010 on loan for the 2010–11 Premier League season, with a possibility of the deal being made permanent at the end of that time. He made his debut against former club Blackburn Rovers on 21 August as a second-half substitute for fellow new signing Nikola Žigić, and scored his first goal for the club five days later in a 3–2 League Cup victory over Rochdale. After waiting until January 2011 for his first Premier League start for Birmingham, against Blackpool, he then scored twice in the 4–1 win at Millwall in the third round of the FA Cup. Derbyshire never established himself in the first team, and left Birmingham at the end of the season after their relegation from the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest

Before the 2011–12 season began, Olympiacos informed Derbyshire he was free to find another club. He signed a three-year contract with Championship club Nottingham Forest on 10 August 2011. The fee was undisclosed. Upon signing, Derbyshire stated the importance to his career of getting regular first team football again. At Forest Derbyshire would be renewing acquaintance with assistant manager Rob Kelly, who was his coach when he was a youth player at Blackburn Rovers. Derbyshire made his debut for Forest on 16 August in a 1–0 away win against Doncaster Rovers.

International career

On 1 February 2007, Derbyshire was called up to the England Under-21 squad by new manager Stuart Pearce, for the match against Spain on 6 February. He was subsequently injured playing for Blackburn against Sheffield United on 3 February, and therefore missed joining up with the squad.

However, Derbyshire was fit enough to be included in England's Under-21 match against Italy at the new Wembley Stadium on 24 March. He scored England's third goal in a thrilling 3–3 draw. During the group stage of the 2007 European Under-21 Football Championship, he was the scorer of a controversial goal against the Serbian under-21 team. He did not kick the ball out when Serbian defender Slobodan Rajković was down injured and went on to score England's second goal of the game; in his defence, Derbyshire claimed he did not see the injured player. He took part in the epic semi-final shootout against hosts Netherlands, scoring his first but having his second penalty saved as England lost 13–12. On 28 March 2009, Derbyshire played the second half for England as they beat Norway 5–0, scoring two goals.

Personal life

Derbyshire's wife, the former Melissa O'Higgins Norman, is from Ireland and they have twin boys, Braidín and Callum.

Career statistics

.

0 0 10 5 3 2 5 6 0 0 0

Club	Season	League	Cup	!colspan="3"	Total
!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists
rowspan="1" valign="centre"	Blackburn Rovers		1	|	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
rowspan="1" valign="centre"	→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)	rowspan="2"	12	|	2	1	0	—	0	0	0	13	0	2
rowspan="1" valign="centre"	→ Wrexham (loan)	16	|	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	10	—
rowspan="3" valign="centre"	Blackburn Rovers		22	|	2	6	4	1	2	0	0	30	9	3
2007–08 Premier League	2007–08	23	|	2	4	1	0	6	2	1	33	6	3
2008–09 Premier League	2008–09	17	|	0	5	3	2	0	0	0	22	5	2
rowspan="1" valign="centre"	→ Olympiacos (loan)		7	|	0	4	3	0	2	0	0	13	8	0
rowspan="2" valign="centre"	Olympiacos		19	|	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	21	6	0
2010–11 Super League Greece	2010–11	0	|	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	1	0
rowspan="1" valign="centre"	→ Birmingham City (loan)		13	|	0	7	3	0	0	0	0	20	3	0
rowspan="1" valign="centre"	Nottingham Forest		2	|	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Career total		!132!!31!!6!!26!!14!!3!!15!!3!!1	! 173 !! 48 !! 10

Honours

;Olympiacos

Greek Super League (1): 2008–09

Greek Cup (1): 2008–09

;Birmingham City

Football League Cup: 2011

References

External links

Matt Derbyshire player profile at Nottingham Forest website

Blackburn Rovers profile

Interview with Matt Derbyshire at Olympiakos

Category:1986 births Category:People from Blackburn Category:Living people Category:Association football forwards Category:English footballers Category:England under-21 international footballers Category:Great Harwood Town F.C. players Category:Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Category:Wrexham F.C. players Category:Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Category:Olympiacos F.C. players Category:Birmingham City F.C. players Category:Nottingham Forest F.C. players Category:Premier League players Category:The Football League players Category:Superleague Greece players Category:English expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in Greece

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name	The Greek
media	The Wire
portrayer	Bill Raymond
creator	David Simon
gender	Male
first	"Ebb Tide" ''(episode 2.01)''
last	"–30–" ''(episode 5.10)''
occupation	International smuggling/Organized Crime Boss
footnotes	}}

The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking. The Greek is a mysterious figure involved in numerous criminal activities. His given name is never mentioned on the show, and though he is known only as "The Greek", he has stated (in the episode Port in a Storm) that he is not actually Greek. A quiet and unassuming man, the Greek prefers to keep a low profile, operating all of his business through his lieutenant Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos. His smuggling organization operated from a small diner in Baltimore for years, and while Vondas would conduct business the Greek would listen in quietly at the counter. Nick Sobotka, upon seeing the Greek identify himself, was amazed that the shadowy figure had been in plain sight the entire time.

Despite his calm appearance, the Greek is cunning and ruthless, and only interested in facts that make him more money. Series creator David Simon has said that The Greek is an embodiment of raw unencumbered capitalism. Anyone interfering in this process is eliminated immediately, and he prefers to leave victims headless and handless to hinder identification.

The Greek's smuggling operation includes importing sex trade workers, illicit drugs, stolen goods and chemicals for drug processing. He bribes union stevedores to move containers through the Baltimore port for him and uses his muscle, Sergei "Serge" Malatov, to run containers back and forth from the port to his warehouse, a front managed by "Double G" Glekas. The Greek supplies the major drug dealers in East Baltimore with pure cocaine and heroin, using Eton Ben-Eleazer to move his drugs. His chief client is Proposition Joe, but he is also affiliated with smaller drug dealing organizations like those run by "White Mike" McArdle. His sex trade interests in Baltimore include a brothel run by a madam named Ilona Petrovitch, bringing in girls from eastern Europe. He manages to avoid prosecution for his crimes because an FBI counter-terrorism agent named Kristos Koutris tips him off if a criminal investigation gets too close. It is suggested he and Vondas may serve as federal informants.

Biography

Season 2

thumb|right|250px|The Greeks The Greek began to draw police attention in Baltimore when his contact at the docks, Frank Sobotka, became the target of an investigation. At the same time a container of thirteen dead young women intended for the sex trade was discovered at the docks, triggering a high-profile homicide investigation. The container belonged to the Greek and the girls were killed by a crewman onboard the vessel that had delivered them. The ship's crew had been paying the girls for sex and when one of the girls refused, she was killed. The crewman responsible dumped her overboard and collapsed the air pipe to kill the remaining women. The Greek had Sergei track the crewman down, interrogated him personally, and had Vondas kill him.

As the investigation continued the police were able to link Eton and Sergei to the drug smuggling operation. When police began tracking containers as they left the port, The Greek and Vondas began to close down the operation temporarily by dumping their cell phones and stealing "clean" containers. Persuading Sobotka to keep the smuggling operation going he bought further protection from Agent Koutris by betraying a load of Colombian cocaine, giving him time to destroy incriminating evidence in the warehouse and Glekas' store.

The Greek recognized that the investigation was too extensive to stop and made plans to leave, sending Vondas to assure Proposition Joe that supply of drugs would continue albeit with new faces. He attempted to buy Sobotka's silence with promised legal aid for his son, but when he learned from Koutris that Frank was planning to turn informant he had the union man killed. Although Frank's nephew Nick Sobotka was able to identify The Greek in a photo and Sergei was pressured to give up the location of his hotel suite, Vondas and the Greek had already boarded a flight to Chicago. Aware that the Greek and Vondas were gone, the police left the investigation behind and moved on to the drug dealers he supplied.

Seasons 4 & 5

The Greek continued to supply "Proposition Joe" Stewart, who formed an organization with other drug dealers called the New Day Co-Op to provide The Greek's product to them in exchange for reduced violence and sharing of territory. When Omar Little steals an entire shipment of heroin from the Greek's men as it is being delivered to Stewart's people, Marlo Stanfield demands a meeting with Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos in order to allay his fears that Stewart was responsible. Once Stanfield is satisfied, he waits for the Major Crimes Unit's investigation into his activities to cease and then moves to establish a direct relationship with Vondas and the Greek. After getting in communication with Vondas through former soldier Sergei, Marlo eventually sells himself as Joe's replacement by convincing the Greek that he requires an insurance policy in the form of a replacement for Proposition Joe, in the event that anything should happen to him. Realizing that Stanfield will move against Stewart regardless of his approval, the Greek accepts Marlo's proposal to act as an "insurance policy," knowing that it will mean Joe's death.

After Stewart's murder, Stanfield meets with Vondas to initiate their new business relationship. Stanfield's tenure proves short lived when he is forced into retirement by an investigation, and the other Co-Op members purchase the connection from Stanfield. In the closing scenes of the series finale, Slim Charles and Fat-Face Rick take over meeting with Vondas while the Greek listens quietly in the background.

References

Category:The Wire (TV series) characters Category:Fictional American people of Greek descent