His team has made the FA Cup final for the first time in nearly 60 years and the 23-year-old marine engineer has a big night planned.
Portsmouth will play Cardiff City early Sunday morning New Zealand time for the ultimate prize in British football, and Holmes and his father plan to watch the match at one of Dunedin's local watering holes.
"A lot of people have asked me how I think Portsmouth will go," he said.
"To be honest with you, if they lose I'll be a bit gutted. But, at the same time, I just think it is brilliant that two different sides have a chance of winning the FA Cup. The last five years it has just been either Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea."
For the record he is predicting a 3-1 victory to Portsmouth.
"I'm 100% confident, but I'd have to say that in the paper," he joked.
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being fanatical and one apathetic, Holmes rates himself "about an eight".
He grew up on the Isle of Wight and started supporting Portsmouth because "most of the kids" in his class were Pompey fans.
"They were underdogs," he said.
The club won the FA Cup in 1939 and kept the prestigious trophy through the World War 2 years when the tournament was not staged.
Cardiff City has had an even longer wait for glory. The Welsh club won the 1927 final.
Holmes moved to Dunedin from the United Kingdom three years ago and spends six weeks at sea at a time with his job. That makes following the fortunes of his football club difficult.
"It wasn't until they were in the quarterfinals and beat Manchester United that I thought,... this is good."
He has never seen his beloved team play live, but it remains a dream. And secretly, Holmes has a foot in both camps, having lived quite close to Cardiff in the past.
"If Cardiff win I'll put my hands up in the air and say they deserve it."
He might look like a hard shot with his freshly shaven head, but the hairstyle is to show his support and raise awareness for the Child Cancer Foundation.
