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Now sadly, it is no more than a big day out for some of the smaller clubs who get a draw at one of the big clubs, and some of those big clubs treat the competition with some contempt playing under strength teams etc.
Not for Burnley yesterday. We saw the importance of getting through and manager Eddie Howe, getting a second bite of the cherry in this season's competition, promised he'd field a strong team. In the end it was exactly how they'd lined up at Portsmouth in midweek with the only change, and a positive one at that, coming on the bench.
That changed so the return of Martin Paterson who will be hoping that the rest of the season will be trouble free. A pre-season injury saw him start the season disappointingly and then when he returned he suffered a thigh injury in his second game back that has seen him ruled out for almost three months.
Howe, in his third game in charge, finally got the chance to take a bow in front of the home crowd ahead of the game and the reception was as you would have expected for the new man who has been greeted with such enthusiasm by the Burnley fans.
Incredibly, our last four FA Cup ties, stretching back to January last year, have been played under four different managers. and Howe's team got off to a good start. The opening period of the game saw us pressing forward without creating anything really clear cut. Burton were guilty of numerous fouls, some of which were given and some not, yet amazingly they got through it without any sign of a yellow card.
And no surprise, when the card did come out of the pocket it was for Clarke Carlisle. It seemed harsh, and it could have been worse as the free kick just about clipped the top of the bar.
At times we were playing some really good stuff. It just, it seemed, needed a goal, and it finally came just before the half hour. It was no surprise to see Eagles and Cork as the central characters. It came from a short free kick that was played to Eagles. He in turn found Cork who returned the ball with a neat back heel.
It was all Eagles then as he moved into the box and past a defender before rolling the ball home right into the bottom right hand corner.
I thought that one might have opened the floodgates but it was still 1-0 at half time although Jay Rodriguez and Steven Thompson had both missed good chances to have increased the lead.
Half time saw the second welcome of the day. After Howe ahead of the game new boy Charlie Austin was paraded on the pitch and it looks as though he might well have been allocated a chant that was once reserved for a manager of the club.
Burton probably had their best spell in the early stages of the second half. We'd gone a bit flat. Even so they weren't really threatening to get back into the game. Howe waited until just after an hour had gone before making his changes.
Thompson and Jay Rod had struggled a bit up front and he replaced them both with Chris Iwelumo, still a Claret, and Ross Wallace coming on. Burton responded with two changes of their own but the result was that Burnley got back on top.
Wallace was to make a real impact in that last half hour and he could so easily have got our second but for an excellent save from Adam Legzdins but when he next got onto the ball it was 2-0 to Burnley.
It was a farcical goal in that Legzdin's clearance hit his own centre half Big Dave, Darren Moore, on the back and dropped nicely for Cork who freed Wallace down the right.
Wallace's cross was perhaps just too close to the keeper as Eagles rushed in but fellow sub Iwelumo was able to turn it back from beyond the far post for Eagles to get his second from close range. The first look suggested Iwelumo had almost made a hash of things but a second look confirmed he did well to get the ball back.
It's the third time Eagles has scored twice in a game this season but the first time without the assistance of a penalty. David Eyres, in 1993, was the last Burnley player who was not a recognised striker to get a hat trick. Eagles couldn't, in the end, follow him but he couldn't have come much closer.
He hit a shot from out on the left that hammered against the underside of the bar before bouncing back into play. Pictures have confirmed it didn't go in, but he really could not have got much closer.
By now Eagles was almost unplayable and he almost set up Paterson, who came on just after the second goal, before getting the ball across to Wallace who should have done better with his effort.
It looked as though there were more goals to come but it was a shock when the next one went in at the other end as Calvin Zola saw his effort come down off the bar and go in.
That left us with a nervy last ten minutes, and for the first four or five of them it was just that as Burton looked for a second and a replay. Thankfully we saw them off and eventually gave the game a more realistic scoreline with a goal in the last minute of stoppage time.
It couldn't have been better either as it fell to Pato. We won a free kick outside the box. Goalkeeper Legzdin saved from Wallace but could only push it into Paterson's path. He made no mistake with a cool finish.
He came back from injury last season with a goal at Villa after coming on as a sub. He's done the same again so let's hope he can end this season in the sort of form he ended last season. That would give the squad a big boost.
If someone had asked me at half time who the man of the match was I'd have said Jack Cork with no hesitation. I thought he was outstanding in the first 45 minutes. But he did fade in the second half, was at fault with the goal we conceded, whilst Chris Eagles just blossomed.
His manager joked that he would have preferred that performance after the window had closed. We saw it earlier in the season just what a difference he makes to the team when he's in that sort of form. Long may it continue.
The win has taken us to the last sixteen with many clubs above us in the league now out. Just one more win would mean a place in the quarter -finals, something we've done just once in the last 28 years.
It doesn't help in some ways with the Coventry home game now looking for a new date - but I'm a firm believer that a cup run enhances league form rather than having a detrimental effect on it.
I'm looking forward to the draw now - hoping for another good home tie.
The teams were;
Burnley: Lee Grant, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Michael Duff, Danny Fox, Jack Cork, Dean Marney, Chris Eagles, Wade Elliott (Martin Paterson 73), Steven Thompson (Chris Iwelumo 61), Jay Rodriguez (Ross Wallace 62). Subs not used: Brian Jensen, David Edgar, Andre Bikey, Graham Alexander.
Yellow Cards: Clarke Carlisle, Dean Marney.
Burton: Adam Legzdin, Andrew Corbett (Ryan Austin 88), Nathan Stanton, Darren Moore, Scott Malone, Adam Bolder, John McGrath (Greg Pearson 65), Russell Penn, Aaron Webster (Lewis Young 64), Jacques Maghoma, Calvin Zola. Subs not used: Kevin Poole, Paul Boertien, Tony James, Jimmy Phillips.
Yellow Card: Darren Moore.
Referee: Jon Moss (West Yorkshire).
Attendance: 11,664.