<?php
$a=array(array(207306,'Bob',''),
array (199730,'Sam',199714),
array(199728,'Simon',207306),
array(199714,'John',207306),
array(199716,'Tom',199718),
array(199718,'Phillip',207306),
array(199720,'James',207306));
# map the children by parent
$parents = ['' => []];
foreach ($a as $val) {
$parents[$val[2]][] = $val;
}
# start with those with no parent
$sorted = $parents[''];
# add the children the current nodes are parent of until the array is empty
# a bit slower loop which works in all versions
for ($val = reset($sorted); $val; $val = next($sorted)) {
if (isset($parents[$val[0]])) {
foreach ($parents[$val[0]] as $next) {
$sorted[] = $next;
}
}
}
var_dump($sorted);